Artwork
Storm at Arbonne
Storm at Arbonne is a gouache drawing by the Impressionist artist Jean-Charles Cazin. It dates from 1878 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Jean‑Charles Cazin’s 1878 work titled Storm at Arbonne is a drawing executed in gouache and pastel on paper. The piece is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. It presents a tranquil rural landscape rendered with a restrained palette of muted greens, browns, pale blues and a hint of yellow.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on a sizable haystack occupying the foreground, while modest dwellings cluster behind it amid leaf‑stripped trees. A soft, overcast sky stretches above, suggesting an approaching storm or the calm after one. The scene conveys a quiet, everyday moment in the French countryside, emphasizing the relationship between human structures and the surrounding environment.
Technique & Style
The combination of gouache’s opacity with pastel’s delicate texture allows for subtle tonal shifts, especially in the sky and foliage.
Cazin employs loose, rapid brushwork that imparts a sketch‑like quality to the image. The combination of gouache’s opacity with pastel’s delicate texture allows for subtle tonal shifts, especially in the sky and foliage. This approach prioritizes the capture of fleeting light and atmospheric conditions over meticulous detail, aligning the work with the broader concerns of late‑19th‑century French landscape painting.
History & Provenance
Created in 1878, Storm at Arbonne entered the National Gallery of Art’s holdings through acquisition, where it remains on display. The work reflects Cazin’s mature period, during which he focused on rural subjects and experimented with mixed media to achieve atmospheric effects.
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