Inspirational Art Series – Sleep (Jean-René Carrière) (Eugène Carrière)

Hello everyone!

We are excited share with you more of our series dedicated to inspirational art through the ages.

This series seeks to highlight classical pieces that make our hearts skip a beat, are likely to brighten your day, and will help your artistic creativity!

Today’s pick is Eugène Carrière’s lithograph “Sleep”.

“Sleep” is a portrait of Carrière’s young son, Jean-René, and appears in L’Album d’estampes originales de la Galerie Vollard. It is a beautiful example of how the artist worked from dark to light.

Rather than drawing with a lithographic crayon, Carrière covered his entire stone with ink, which he then wiped and scraped away to create areas where the paper would show through when printed. Here, the visual effects of this technique combine with expressive, almost abstract forms to give the subject a fantastic, dreamlike atmosphere.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Carrière (1849-1906) mostly focused on scenes of his domestic life. His work, which features a unique brown monochrome palette, influenced Picasso. “Sleep” may not be his most famous piece, but the sheer simplicity of what it depicts will leave you with a deep sense of peace.

Inspired by this piece?

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