The National Museum of Western Art

Updated 16 May 2024

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Currently not on display

Eugène Carrière

Gournay, 1849 - Paris, 1906

Portrait of Clemenceau

Date 1889
Materials and Techniques oil on canvas
Size(cm) 90 x 55
Credit Line Matsukata Collection
Standard ref. Rapetti 339; M208
Category Paintings
Collection Number P.1959-0029

The subject of this portrait, Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), was a famous statesman of good repute active during the Third Republic. He acted as prime minister during World War I and as a member of the Radical Party. Clemenceau was known for his indomitable fighting spirit which led to the conservative party giving him the appropriate nickname of Tiger. He also was the author of numerous volumes and known as a literary figure enamored of art. He was in close contact with various artists, including the Impressionists, and in addition to Carrière, his portrait was painted by several artists such as Manet (1879) and Rodin (1911). Clemenceau was also well known for his extensive and now dispersed collection of Japanese woodblock prints and decorative arts. Carrière, in addition to his paintings of religious and literary subjects, left many portraits of his close friends. No matter what the subject, he always covered his painting surface with his distinctively mystical, otherworldly sensibility which still had a form of realism at its heart. In these works Carrière's magical color harmonies marvelously and accurately reproduce the sitter's features and beard, while lending a uniquely magical, poetic sensibility to their actual forms. (Source: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2009, cat. no. 95)

Provenance

Purchased by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite or by himself, ca. November 1921 (Fr. 9,000) [see letter from Léonce Bénédite to Suzuki & Co., dated 22 November 1921, in the Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris (copy in NMWA curatorial file)]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.

Exhibition History

1989
The Old Matsukata Collection, Kobe City Museum, 14 September 1989 - 26 November 1989, cat. no. 46, col. repr.
1997
Expressiveness of Materials, National Museum of Art, Osaka, 17 April 1997 - 22 June 1997, cat. no. 33
2006
August Rodin / Eugène Carrière, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 7 March 2006 - 4 June 2006, cat. no. 37; Musée d'Orsay, 11 July-1 October 2006, cat. no. 27, col. repr.
2013
Monet, An Eye for Landscapes: Innovation in 19th Century French Landscape Paintings, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 7 December 2013 - 9 March 2014, p. 143, col. repr.

Bibliography

1907
Carrière, Eugène. Ecrits et lettres choisies. Paris, Société Mercure de France, 1907, p. 136.
1918
Geffroy, Gustave. Portraits de Clemenceau. La Renaissance de l’art français et des industries de luxe. 1918, avril, pp. 181-186.
1935
Berryer, Anne-Marie. Eugène Carrière: sa vie, son oeuvre, sa philosophie, son enseignement: suivi du catalogue de ses peintures, mémoire de doctorat de l'université de Bruxelles, Liège, 1935, no. 517.
1955
La Collection Matsukata, Tokyo, Asahi- Shimbun, 1955 (Japanese), no. 42, repr.
1961
Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-40.
1966
Carrière, Jean-René. De la vie d'Eugène Carrière: Souvenirs, lettres, pensées, documents. Toulouse, Edouart Privat, 1966, p. 12.
1971
Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1971 (Japanese), no. 9, repr.
1975
Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1975 (Japanese), no. 59, repr.
1978
Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 65, repr.
1979
The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 35, repr.
1979
Wormser, Georges. Clemenceau vu de près. Paris, Hachette, 1979, p. 268.
1989
The Old Matsukata Collection (exh. cat.). Kobe City Museum, ed. [Kobe], "Matsukata Collection Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1989, pp. 40, 168-169, cat. no. 46, col. repr.
1990
The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 352.
1992
The French Modern Art, from The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, ed. Okinawa, Urasoe Art Museum, 1992, p.25, cat. no. 15, col. repr
1996
Eugène Carrière, Le peintre et son univers autour de 1900 (exh. cat.). Saint-Cloud, Musée Municipal, 1996, p. 116, no. 148.
1996
O'Brien, David. "Lettres inédites de Carrière". Eugène Carrière (exh. cat.). Strasbourg, Museè de Strasbourg, 1996, p. 66.
1998
Bajou, Valérie. Eugène Carrière: portrait intimiste 1849-1906. Lausanne, Sylvio Acatos, 1998, p. 183, repr.
2006
Auguste Rodin, Eugène Carrière(exh.cat.). Musée d'Orsay. et al., eds. Paris, Flammarion; Musée d'Orsay, 2006, cat. no. 27, col. repr.
2006
Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2006 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 95, col. repr.
2008
Rapetti, Rodolphe. Eugène Carrière 1849-1906: catalogue raisonné de l'œuvre peint. Paris, Editions Gallimard, 2008, cat. no. 339, repr.
2009
Masterpieces of The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art; Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2009, no. 95, col. repr.
2013
Masterpieces: The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The Western Art Foundation, 2013 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 103, col. repr.
2018
The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 1: Paintings, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 208, col. repr.

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