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Debussy and Impressionism

Claude Debussy
Even though Claude Debussy (left) himself dabbled in painting as a young man, the French composer disliked having his music compared to the works of his French Impressionist painter contemporaries.

Eugene Carriere
That didn't stop one writer from linking Debussy's Sacred and Profane Dances to the hazy, atmospheric paintings of Eugène Carrière (left, in a self-protrait). Carrière (1849-1906) was known for his scenes of domestic intimacy and his portraits of literary and artistic figures. By 1890, he had developed a distinctive style that, as the music critic claimed about the Sacred and Profane Dances, involved subjects that "were so submerged in misty atmosphere as to be barely visible."

Carriere's The Contemplator

  • View Carrière's "The Contemplator" (left)
        at the Cleveland Museum of Art Web site

  • Browse more of Carrière's paintings
        at the Artcyclopedia Web site

    • Related Links

  • Claude Debussy page on the Classical Music Pages Web site

  • A Web site on Debussy and Impressionism

  • Eugène Carrière Virtual Museum (in French)

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