Artwork Page for Midnight

Details / Information for Midnight

Midnight

1891

Jean-Charles Cazin

(French, 1841–1901)
Culture
France, 19th century
Medium
oil on fabric
Measurements
Framed: 113 x 112.4 x 11.4 cm (44 1/2 x 44 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.); Unframed: 88 x 89 cm (34 5/8 x 35 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
The Charles W. Harkness Gift 1923.602
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Cazin preferred to paint in his studio using memory techniques learned in his artistic training which he later passed on to his own students.

Description

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 of Drawing), an innovative and unorthodox institution teaching drawing from memory. He studied there with fellow artists Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904), Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), and Alphonse Legros (1837–1911). They all shared an interest in Symbolism—the movement that sees symbols in reality and perceives reality through symbols.
A vertically oriented oil painting depicts a narrow canal flanked by buildings under a starry night sky. The dark water in the lower half reflects the tan stone walls and chimneys rising on the right. A small, dark wooden shelter stands on a dock by the water. On the left, shadows and foliage frame the view toward a distant stone arch bridge. Five faint stars dot the dark gray sky above.

Midnight

1891

Jean-Charles Cazin

(French, 1841–1901)
France, 19th century

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