Madame Case, after September 1900, probably summer 1901. This painting may depict the wife of the artist's close friend, writer Jules Cass. In a letter written after her death, Cass asked the artist to paint her portrait from an enlarged photograph. "My dear friend," Cass wrote, "would you preserve the only face which, from now on, can bring me some little joy, if one can use this word for a sentiment mixed with so much suffering." Carri?re emphasized the poetic mood by placing the shadowy figure in a vague, dreamlike space. Known for his evocative paintings of women and children, Eug?ne Carri?re was loosely associated with the French Symbolist movement, which aimed at expressing inner, spiritual life and emotions rather than the outward appearance of physical reality.