Reading

Eugene Carriere (1849-1906) was a French painter known for the monochromatic, veiled manner that makes him one of the most distinctive painters of the late 19th century. Reading from c. 1875-1900 depicts a figure reading in the monochromatic, veiled manner that distinguishes Carriere's best work from the more colorful painting of his contemporaries. The c. 1875-1900 date spans Carriere's most productive period, when he was producing the monochromatic, veiled paintings of mothers and children, readers, and thinkers that are his most accomplished works.

Reading is important in the history of French painting because it demonstrates the monochromatic, veiled manner that makes Carriere one of the most distinctive painters of the late 19th century. Carriere's monochromatic manner—paintings in shades of brown that seem to emerge from and dissolve into a veiled atmosphere—represents an alternative to both the colorful Impressionist painting and the academic tradition, and his veiled manner would influence the development of Symbolism in French painting.

Reading is Carriere's monochromatic veil: a figure reading rendered in the brown, atmospheric manner that makes him one of the most distinctive painters of the late 19th century. The c. 1875-1900 painting shows Carriere's alternative to both Impressionism and the academic tradition—paintings that seem to emerge from and dissolve into a veiled atmosphere of brown tones.