EUGENE CARRIERE
(1849-1906)
Carrière was born at Gournay, Seine-et-Oise (now Seine-Saint-Denis) just east of Paris. His father (an insurance salesman) struggled to support his family, and, at the age of two, the family moved to Strasbourg. Carrière's early training was for a career in commercial lithography, but, after seeing works by Rubens in the Louvre, he decided that he would become an artist.
He struggled in his new career, resorting to commercial work in both Paris and London and at the Sèvres porcelain factory (1880-84), where he met Auguste Rodin (1840 - 1917). However, by the late 1880s he had achieved recognition for his work (being made Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur).
His renewed interest in printmaking as an art medium, came about through the encouragement of his friends, and, from 1890 onwards he made a series of lithographs, many of which were used as frontispieces or published for print collectors.
Copyright © Trustees of Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.
Extract taken from Prints, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery .