Hornsgatan nattetid 1902

Eugène Jansson’s “Hornsgatan nattetid” is a large canvas awash in blues and purples, punctuated by these glowing orbs of light. I can imagine Jansson building up layers of thin paint, like a veil of color, allowing the city’s nocturnal mood to emerge from darkness. It looks like he might have been feeling the loneliness of the city night. I get the sense of a vast, empty space with the lights acting as lonely sentinels in the gloom. Just think about standing in front of the canvas, the way the texture might feel, the slight variations of tone as if the painting itself is breathing. It reminds me of Whistler's nocturnes, the way he captured the atmosphere of a place using a limited palette. Each stroke of paint is like a whisper, a hint of something deeper. These paintings are part of a long conversation in art history, each artist building on what came before, and imagining what’s next.