Eugene Carriere was another symbolist artist who became popular among contemporaries. He devoted his works to scenes of maternal love and prosaic household motifs, elevating them above the ordinary. 

Carriere’sWoman taking out a splinter, Head of a sleeping woman, and Mother’s kiss are painted in a similar monochromatic color scheme, where brownish and dark gray shades prevail. This is why characters seem to emerge from the gloom like memories. The soft light on their faces makes the figures blurry and brings us into the characters’ state of mind. Carriere’s wife and children often served as his models, which explains the special tenderness that can be felt in the depiction of the people. The artist uses a deeply elaborated and often varied theme of motherhood (like in “Mother’s kiss”). This theme would later be used by one of the most prominent artists of the 20th century – Pablo Picasso. The art of Eugene Carriere is to a great extent allegoric (and this allegoric nature has its analogies in literature), but it differs from Redon’s work full of sophistication and innuendo.