Artwork Page for Madame Case

Details / Information for Madame Case

Madame Case

after September 1900, probably summer 1901

Eugène Carrière

(French, 1849–1906)
Culture
France, late 19th-early 20th Century
Medium
oil on fabric
Measurements
Unframed: 46.2 x 38.1 cm (18 3/16 x 15 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1967.126
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

The painting evokes an illusory, dreamy quality that may reflect the fact that Carrière never met his model.

Description

This painting may depict the wife of the artist's close friend, writer Jules Case. In a letter written after her death, Case asked the artist to paint her portrait from an enlarged photograph. "My dear friend," Case wrote, "would you preserve the only face which, from now on, can bring me some little joy, if one can use this word for a sentiment mixed with so much suffering." Carrière emphasized the poetic mood by placing the shadowy figure in a vague, dreamlike space. Known for his evocative paintings of women and children, Eugène Carrière was loosely associated with the French Symbolist movement, which aimed at expressing inner, spiritual life and emotions rather than the outward appearance of physical reality.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a woman with light skin tone from the shoulders up in muted, monochromatic browns. Her short, dark hair merges into a hazy, warm brown background. She faces us directly with shadowed eyes and a closed mouth. She wears a light-colored garment. The canvas texture is visible through thin paint layers. White cursive writing is located in the bottom left corner.

Madame Case

after September 1900, probably summer 1901

Eugène Carrière

(French, 1849–1906)
France, late 19th-early 20th Century

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