Eugène Carrière (1849–1906), whose painting was described by a contemporary as reality having the magic of dreams, was an important French exponent of the late-nineteenth-century visionary Symbolist movement. He possessed close ties to other French artists associated with Symbolism, such as Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and the sculptor Auguste Rodin, with whom he helped to found the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1890.

While the world’s largest public collection of work by Carrière is to be found in Paris’s prestigious Musée d’Orsay, the most comprehensive private collection is the one assembled by Dr. Nick Vlachos in Bloomington, Illinois. This exhibition features the most important works from this outstanding personal collection, ranging from portraits and images of mothers and children to figure studies and landscapes.

Shadow and Substance foregrounds the technical and thematic originality of Carrière’s brand of Symbolism. The painter focused on family members and intimates as a microcosm of the larger brotherhood of mankind, portraying them as universal figures against formless environments. Similarly, he developed a unique style characterized by a monochromatic brown palette, extremely soft-focus contours, and atmospheric effects, which grew from his interest in building up his paintings with subtle light effects and from his spiritualist belief in creation as an ongoing process emanating from fundamental forces.
The exhibition is organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA.

EUGENE CARRIERE
TIMELINE

1849 :  Birth at Gournay sur Marne (Seine et Oise, now Seine-Saint-Denis), January 16

1853 : Léon Carrière, the father and his family live in Strasbourg

1862: Attends the drawing courses of the municipal Art School of Strasbourg at the Château des Rohan

1864-1867: Works with the lithographers as  Auguste Munch and Groskost (posters, vignettes, menus)

1868: Leaves Strasbourg for Saint-Quentin where he studies at the La Tour school and  works with the lithographer Moureau. Discovers the La Tour’s pastels.

1869: Settle in Paris – seeing works by Rubens in the Louvre decides him to become a painter

1870: Enlists as soldier. Taken prisoner after the surrender of Neuf-Brisach and interned at Dresden where he visits the Gallery of Old Masters. Impressed by the Madonna of Sainte-Sixte by Raphaël.

1871: Released and returns to Strasbourg. The lithography: The Human Rights

1872: Moves to Paris

1874-1877: enters the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Cabanel’s studio, with a grant from his birth department. In 1877 fails to gain the Prix de Rome but obtains a first prize for a sketch composition. Works in the atelier of Jules Cheret

1877-1878: Goes to London with Sophie Desmouceaux (1855-1922), daughter of a Paris tanner, works for Marcus Ward on Christmas cards

1878: Marries Sophie. Birth of his first daughter Elise (Lisbeth)

1879: exhibits The young Mother at the Salon acquired by the state ( Musée Calvet, Avignon)

1881: Birth of his first son Léon

1882: Birth of Marguerite

1884: Meets Roger Marx, the art critic

1885: The Sick Child attracts notice at the Salon, gains a medal and is bought by the state. Death of his son Léon

1886: Birth of Nelly. Exhibits The first Veil at the Salon

1887: Travels to Belgium and Holland, meets Louis-Henri Devillez, whose portrait he paints

1888: Birth of Jean-René. Works at a studio Villa des Arts, 15 rue Hégésippe Moreau, in Paris. Meets Georges Clemenceau

1889: Birth of Lucie. He is represented at the World Fair in Paris and made Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur by Georges Clemenceau. Acquires a country residence at Parc Saint-Maur. Receives the order for a decoration of the Salon des Sciences in the city-hall of Paris.

1890: Leaves the Salon des Artistes Français and associates himself as Rodin with the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Works again with lithography

1891: One-man exhibition with Boussod et Valadon. Includes his portrait of Gauguin. Takes part in March in a farewell banquet for Gauguin before his departure for Tahiti. Gauguin offers him a selfportrait. Paints the portrait of Verlaine, exhibited at Durand-Ruel,  and Alphonse Daudet, the writer

1893: La Famille acquired for the Musée du Luxembourg. Receives the order of a pannel  for La Sorbonne, the university of Paris. Visits Brittany. Travels to Guernesey with Rodin

1894 : Lithographs for  L’Estampe Originale. Beginning of the Dreyfus Affair
1895-1905: founds the Académie Carrière attended by Matisse, Derain, Puy, Zuloaga and others

1896: Writes the preface for the Art Nouveau exhibition at the Gallery Bing. Exhibits in Geneva at Musée Rath with Rodin and Puvis de Chavannes and in Brussels (Salon de la Libre Esthétique). First of a regular series of winter visits to Pau till 1902 where he meets the poet Francis Jammes
Makes the portrait of Rodin

1897: Makes the poster of the newspaper L’Aurore, order of his friend Georges Clemenceau. Paints Christ en Croix. Exhibits at the Continental Gallery in London

1898: Travels in Spain with Devillez

1899: Birth of Arsène. Travels in Anvers with Jean Dolent.

1900: Exhibits at the World Fair and makes the 2 posters : The Miner and the fonder. Makes the poster for Rodin’s exhibition Place de l’Alma and writes the preface of the catalog. He is made Officier de la Légion d’Honneur.

1901: Makes a lecture at the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris: L’Homme visionnaire de la Réalité

1902: Meets Elie Faure. Undergoes the first operation for cancer of the throat. Paints Fantine for the Centenary of Victor Hugo

1903: Exhibition at the Gallery Bernheim-Jeune. Becomes first President of the new-founded Salon d’Automne.

1904: Travels in Italy. In December a banquet is held in his honour with 500 guests at the restaurant Vanthier

1905: Second throat operation although Carrière is still at work on decorative panels for the city-hall of Reuilly. The cellist Pablo Casals plays for him during his illness.

1906: Dies on March 27 at his home “Villa des Arts, 15 rue Hégésippe Moreau (Paris)