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The First Communion

ca. 1896
Not on view
The first communion marks a child's initiation into the Christian Eucharist, the ritual consumption of consecrated bread and wine. Carrière's muted palette, fluid brushwork, and simplified forms lend an otherworldly aspect to the girl, enveloped in her white communion gown and veil. This painting and several others on the same subject have been associated with a religious triptych that the artist created about 1897 (current location unknown).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The First Communion
  • Artist: Eugène Carrière (French, Gournay-sur-Marne 1849–1906 Paris)
  • Date: ca. 1896
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 25 3/4 x 21 in. (65.4 x 53.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Gift of Chester Dale, 1963
  • Object Number: 63.138.5
  • Curatorial Department: European Paintings

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Head of a Woman, Eugène Carrière French, Aquatint
Head of a Woman
Eugène Carrière
ca. 1904
The Deaths of Love, Eugène Carrière French, Lithograph; second state of two
The Deaths of Love
Eugène Carrière
ca. 1885
Mme Eugène Carrière (Tête / Head), from "L'Estampe Originale", Eugène Carrière French, Lithograph; only state
Mme Eugène Carrière (Tête / Head), from "L'Estampe Originale"
Eugène Carrière
André Marty
1893
Head of a Woman (Tête de femme) (Nelly Carrière / Closed Eyes / Profile of a Young Girl), from "L'Estampe Originale", Eugène Carrière French, Lithograph
Head of a Woman (Tête de femme) (Nelly Carrière / Closed Eyes / Profile of a Young Girl), from "L'Estampe Originale"
Eugène Carrière
André Marty
1895
Women Sewing at a Table, Eugène Carrière French, Oil on canvas
Women Sewing at a Table
Eugène Carrière
ca. 1894–96

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