Hornsgatan nattetid 1902

Eugène Jansson made this nocturne, ‘Hornsgatan nattetid’, with oil on canvas. He laid the paint on in a kind of furry, scribbled way. It looks like a really physical process, like he’s wrestling the image into existence. Look at the way the surface is built up! All those tiny marks create a shimmering effect, as if the whole scene is vibrating with energy. The cool blues and grays give it a somber, almost melancholic feel, but those little bursts of light, like tiny suns, seem to push through the darkness. The marks around the lamps are almost like a halo. Jansson’s work reminds me of other artists who captured the urban experience, like Whistler, but with a unique vision. It’s like he’s showing us a world that’s both familiar and strange. Art, after all, is about embracing ambiguity, isn’t it?