Midnight
1891
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Jean Charles Cazin
Jean-Charles Cazin was a French landscapist, museum curator and ceramicist.
See the richer artist page1891
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Midnight is a 1891 unspecified by Jean Charles Cazin, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A quiet town glows under a pale moon. Empty streets, dark windows, and a single streetlamp reflect in still water. Cazin painted this scene at midnight, when most people slept. The light feels soft, almost like twilight, but the title tells us it’s deep night. He loved showing places when they were quiet—no people, just shadows and calm. If you like this mood, look up *chiaroscuro*—how artists use light and dark to make things feel real.
This painting depicts Abbeville, a city in northern France famous for its canals and architecture. It lies near the seaport of Boulogne-sur-Mer, Cazin's hometown and where he spent the last decades of his life painting the countryside, beaches, and nearby towns. Cazin specialized in landscapes, often influenced by his knowledge of English and Dutch painters. The title, Midnight , and the image itself suggest silence and stillness—Cazin's hallmarks—but only rarely did he attain this almost surrealistic atmosphere. Cazin was educated in Paris at the famous Ecole Gratuite de Dessins (Free School…
Cazin preferred to paint in his studio using memory techniques learned in his artistic training which he later passed on to his own students.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Jean-Charles Cazin was a French landscapist, museum curator and ceramicist.
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