The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

The Contemplator

The Contemplator

1901
(French, 1849–1906)
France, late 19th-early 20th Century
oil on fabric
Framed: 47.6 x 57.2 x 5.1 cm (18 3/4 x 22 1/2 x 2 in.); Unframed: 33.6 x 41 cm (13 1/4 x 16 1/8 in.)
In memory of Ralph King, gift of Mrs. Ralph King; Ralph T. Woods, Charles G. King; and Frances King Schafer 1946.283
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

In this painting Carrière captures the atmosphere of Victor Hugo's poems through his expressive brushstrokes and monochromatic palette. The artist's monochrome paintings influenced Picasso and his Blue Period works.

Description

This painting illustrating Victor Hugo's poem Boaz Sleeping is one of five images Carrière created to commemorate the centennial of Hugo's birth. A reclining poet gazes at the stars above, as if in a dream, placing one hand over his heart and gesturing toward a crescent moon. The moon was thought to exert a special influence on poets and artists, inspiring not only creativity but darker thoughts of melancholy and suicide.
  • Édouard Pelletan [1854-1912], Paris, France
    (Scott & Fowles, New York, NY, sold to Ralph King)
    -1946
    Ralph King [1855-1926], Cleveland, OH, by gift in his memory from his family to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1946-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Carrière, Eugène, and Gabriel Séailles. Exposition de l'œuvre de Eugène Carrière au palais de l'école nationale des beaux-arts, quai malaquais, mai-juin 1907: catalogue des œuvres exposées. Paris, France: Imprimerie Georges Petit, 1907. Reproduced: no. 207
    Francis, Henry S. "Paintings." The Bulletin of The Cleveland Museum of Art XXXIV, no. 2 (February, 1947): 24. Mentioned: p. 24
    Carrière, Jean-René. De la Vie d'Eugène Carrière, souvenirs, lettres, pensées, documents. Toulouse, France: E. Privat, 1966. Reproduced: p. 229
    Allentown Art Museum. Eugène Carrière, 1849-1906, Seer of the Real. Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA: 1968. Reproduced: no. 21
    Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen. Le Symbolisme en Europe: [exposition] : Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, novembre 1975-janvier 1976, Bruxelles, Musées royaux des beaux-arts de Belgique, janvier-mars 1976, Baden-Baden, Staatliche Kunsthalle, mars-mai 1976, Paris, Grand palais, mai-juillet 1976. Paris, France: Éditions des musées nationaux, 1976. Reproduced: no. 22
    Roberts-Jones, Philippe. Beyond Time and Place: Non-Realist Painting in the Nineteenth Century. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press, 1978. Reproduced: p. 138
    Bantens, Robert James, and Robert Rosenblum. Eugène Carrière: The Symbol of Creation. New York, NY: Kent Fine Art, 1990. Mentioned: p. 110-112; Reproduced: p. 1112
    Rapetti, Rodolphe, Marie-Jeanne Geyer, and Marie-Pierre Salé. Eugène Carrière, 1849-1906: Musées de Strasbourg, Ancienne douane, 19 octobre 1996-9 février 1997. Paris, France: Editions de la Réunion des musées nationaux, 1996. Reproduced: no. 68
    Bajou-Charpentreau, Valérie. Eugène Carrière: portrait intimiste, 1849-1906. Lausanne, Switzerland: Acatos, 1998. Reproduced: Detail, p. 154-155; Reproduced: p. 172-173
    D'Argencourt, Louise and Roger Diederen. The Cleveland Museum of Art: Catalogue of Paintings, Part Four: European Paintings of the 19th Century. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced: p. 40
    Klimt, Andreas, and Michael Steppes. Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: bio-bibliographischer Index A-Z = The artists of the world : bio-bibliographical index A-Z. München, Germany: K.G. Saur, 1999. Reproduced: p. 608
    Klimt, Andreas, and Michael Steppes. Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: bio-bibliographischer Index A-Z = The artists of the world : bio-bibliographical index A-Z. München, Germany: K.G. Saur, 1999. Mentioned: p. 16, 608
    Wissman, Fronia E., and Carrie Haslett. European Muses, American Masters, 1870-1950. Portland, ME: Portland Museum of Art, 2004. Reproduced: p. 852
    Buley-Uribe, Christina. Auguste Rodin, Eugène Carrière. Paris, France: Flammarion, 2006. Mentioned: p. 41; Reproduced: p. 1119
    Nora-Milin, Véronique, Alice Lamarre,and Rodolphe Rapetti. Eugène Carrière, 1849-1906: catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint. Paris, France: Gallimard, 2008. Reproduced: p. 321
    Bergez, Daniel, and Kate Deimling. Painting the Dream: From the Biblical Dream to Surrealism. New York; London: Abbeville Press Publishers, 2018. Reproduced: P. 128, no. 94
    Bergez, Daniel. Peindre le rêve: des rêves bibliques au surréalisme. Paris : Réunion des musées nationaux-Grand Palais, 2016. Reproduced: 99, 128; Mentioned: 128-130.
  • Rodin/Carrière, Interferences. National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (March 7-June 4, 2006); Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France (July 10-October 1, 2006).
    European Muses, American Masters: 1870 to 1950. Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME (organizer) (June 23-October 17, 2004).
    Eugene Carriere. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Chateau des Rohan, Strasbourg (October 18, 1996-February 9, 1997).
    Le Symbolisme en Europe (Symbolism in Europe). Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands (organizer) (November 14, 1975-January 11, 1976); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, Belgium (January 23-March 7, 1976); Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (March 19-May 6, 1976); Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (May 21-July 19, 1976).
    Eugene Carriere Retrospective. High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA (November 2, 1968-January 26, 1969); Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA (organizer) (November 2, 1968-January 26, 1969); Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (February 16-August 3, 1969); Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA (November 15, 1969-January 11, 1970); Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN (February 22-April 5, 1970).
    Eugène Carrière. École Nationale des Beaux-Arts. Paris, France (1907).
    On the occasion of the celebration of the centennial of Victor Hugo. Librairie des Éditions d'Art Édouard Pelletan, Paris, France (1902).
  • {{cite web|title=The Contemplator|url=false|author=Eugène Carrière|year=1901|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.283