Jean-Charles Cazin was a 19th century French painter who painted primarily landscapes and pastoral scenes, but also cityscapes of Paris and some smaller towns.

When I first saw the painting now titled Paris Scene with Bridge (above, top) at the National Gallery in DC, I was immediately charmed by it. The painting is small, roughly 10 x 13 inches (24 x 21 cm), but striking and remarkably modern looking.

Though Cazin was undoubtedly influenced by the immediacy and painterly approach of the Impressionists and other contemporary painters, he kept to his own more naturalistic sensibilities.

In his later career, his paintings approached a tonalist feeling. Many of them have a striking sense of light and contrast, particularly those depicting scenes at twilight.