Michel-Jean Cazabon
Encyclopedia
Michel-Jean Cazabon is regarded as the first great Trinidadian painter and is Trinidad's first internationally known artist. He is also known as the layman painter. He is renowned for his paintings of Trinidad scenery and for his portraits of planters, merchants and their family in the 19th century. Cazabon's paintings are to be cherished not only for their beauty but also their historical importance: his painting has left us with a clear picture of the many aspects of life in Trinidad through much of the nineteenth century.
Cazabon relied on nature to expose the vistas which the plains of the Caroni
and the tropical forests at Chagaramas are idyllic in spender. His portraits of the mulattoes
, indenture Indians
and Negroes where the bases of debate, and whether the painter immortalized these people because he felt a personal bond with them rather less than the European Creoles which no stately portraits were ever recorded.
Cazabon, himself, preferred to describe himself as a 'landscape painter', but in Trinidad, away from the metropolitan influences and stimuli, he embraced the everyday, often mundane, forms of artistic expression - teacher, illustrator, portrait painter.
In England and France his work was much admired and he won awards and medals at exhibitions. In 1851 and 1857 two books of his engravings of Trinidad landscapes were produced in Paris. He was the first Trinidad artist whose style influenced artists for many score years after his death. He was an assiduous worker. A few of his paintings and prints are to be found in the National Museum and Art Gallery
and in private collections in Trinidad and abroad.
. He was the youngest of four children. His parents, owners of a sugar plantation, were "free colored" immigrants from Martinique, who came to Trinidad following the Cedula of Population
of 1783. He was sent to England at the age of nine, to be educated at St. Edmund's College, Ware
.
In 1826, at the age of thirteen, Cazabon went to school at St. Edmund's College in Ware, England, returning to Trinidad in 1830. In about 1837 he sailed for Paris to study medicine. He gave up these studies and started off as an art student under Paul Delaroche a leading painter in Paris. His parent's wealth supported his pursuits and those of his family for many years to come in an enviable life-style and only later in life did he find it necessary to earn a living from his paintings.
He followed the familiar pattern for students at that time, travelling extensively in France and Italy painting the landscape. His work was shown at the Salon du Louvre in 1839 and every year from 1843 to 1847.. follow closely that of the contemporary French landscape artists. In 1843 he married a French woman, Rosalie Trolard. His first daughter was born in Paris in 1844, followed by the birth of his only son. In 1845 he visited Trinidad, returning to Paris in 1851 to publish a series of eighteen lithographs, "Views of Trinidad, 1851". After the birth of his second daughter in Paris in 1852, he returned with his family to Trinidad.
Cazabon soon became popular as a society painter, not only with his paintings of Trinidad scenery, but also with his portraits of the planters and merchants of Port of Spain and their families. He taught art, and provided illustrations of local events for English newspapers. In Trinidad, Cazabon's most important patron was Lord Harris, the English Governor from 1848 to 1854, recording many of his social functions and excursions. The Harris Collection of 44 paintings, now displayed at the family home at Belmont in Kent, England, is perhaps the most important collection of nineteenth century visual references of Trinidad. Several other less extensive, but important collections were commissioned by William Burnley, the Scottish-American planter, John Lamont and the Earl of Dundonald
. In 1857 he published a second series of eighteen lithographs of local scenes, "Album of Trinidad". In 1860 he published, with the photographer Hartmann, a series of sixteen lithographs titled "Album of Demerara", and in that same year contributed one of the scenes in "Album Martiniquais", published by Hartmann and the lithographer, Eugene Ciceri.
In 1862, Cazabon moved with his family to Saint Pierre in Martinique. He hoped that Saint Pierre, described then as the Paris of the New World, would offer a metropolitan spirit that Trinidad lacked, and provide a greater appreciation for his art. Finding much the same attitudes prevailing, he returned to Trinidad about 1870 and attempted to pick up the threads of his former life. Never to regain his social standing, he began to drink to dull his disillusionment. Hawking his paintings around Port of Spain, he became known only as a drunken, though gentle, old eccentric. In 1888, while working at his easel, he died of a heart attack, and the following day was unceremoniously buried in Lapeyrouse Cemetery.
His work was displayed in the Salon de Louvre
in Paris in 1839 and 1843-1847.
Cazabon relied on nature to expose the vistas which the plains of the Caroni
Caroni
The name Caroni may refer to:*Caroni River , one of the biggest rivers of the Orinoco basin*Caroni River, Trinidad and Tobago, the major river on the island of Trinidad and Tobago...
and the tropical forests at Chagaramas are idyllic in spender. His portraits of the mulattoes
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
, indenture Indians
Indian indenture system
The Indian indenture system was an ongoing system of indenture by which thousands of Indians were transported to various colonies of European powers to provide labour for the plantations...
and Negroes where the bases of debate, and whether the painter immortalized these people because he felt a personal bond with them rather less than the European Creoles which no stately portraits were ever recorded.
Cazabon, himself, preferred to describe himself as a 'landscape painter', but in Trinidad, away from the metropolitan influences and stimuli, he embraced the everyday, often mundane, forms of artistic expression - teacher, illustrator, portrait painter.
In England and France his work was much admired and he won awards and medals at exhibitions. In 1851 and 1857 two books of his engravings of Trinidad landscapes were produced in Paris. He was the first Trinidad artist whose style influenced artists for many score years after his death. He was an assiduous worker. A few of his paintings and prints are to be found in the National Museum and Art Gallery
National Museum and Art Gallery, Trinidad
The National Museum and Art Gallery is at the top of Frederick Street in Port of Spain, opposite Memorial Park and just south of the Queen's Park Savannah. It was established in 1892 and was originally called the Royal Victoria Institute....
and in private collections in Trinidad and abroad.
Biography
Jean Michael Cazabon was born of French parentage, the son of Francis Cazabon, in Trinidad on September 20, 1813 on Corinth Estate, Northern Naparima, on the outskirts of San FernandoSan Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
The City of San Fernando with a population of 55,419 according to the 2000 census, is the larger of Trinidad and Tobago's two cities and the second largest municipality after Chaguanas. It occupies 18 km² and is located in the southwestern part of the island of Trinidad...
. He was the youngest of four children. His parents, owners of a sugar plantation, were "free colored" immigrants from Martinique, who came to Trinidad following the Cedula of Population
Cedula of Population
The Cedula of Population was a 1783 edict by the King of Spain,José de Gálvez, opening Trinidad to immigration from, primarily, the French Caribbean islands...
of 1783. He was sent to England at the age of nine, to be educated at St. Edmund's College, Ware
St. Edmund's College, Ware
St Edmund's College is the oldest post-Reformation Roman Catholic school in England. It is an independent school in the British public school tradition set on in Ware, Hertfordshire. During two periods of its history, it has also incorporated a seminary....
.
In 1826, at the age of thirteen, Cazabon went to school at St. Edmund's College in Ware, England, returning to Trinidad in 1830. In about 1837 he sailed for Paris to study medicine. He gave up these studies and started off as an art student under Paul Delaroche a leading painter in Paris. His parent's wealth supported his pursuits and those of his family for many years to come in an enviable life-style and only later in life did he find it necessary to earn a living from his paintings.
He followed the familiar pattern for students at that time, travelling extensively in France and Italy painting the landscape. His work was shown at the Salon du Louvre in 1839 and every year from 1843 to 1847.. follow closely that of the contemporary French landscape artists. In 1843 he married a French woman, Rosalie Trolard. His first daughter was born in Paris in 1844, followed by the birth of his only son. In 1845 he visited Trinidad, returning to Paris in 1851 to publish a series of eighteen lithographs, "Views of Trinidad, 1851". After the birth of his second daughter in Paris in 1852, he returned with his family to Trinidad.
Cazabon soon became popular as a society painter, not only with his paintings of Trinidad scenery, but also with his portraits of the planters and merchants of Port of Spain and their families. He taught art, and provided illustrations of local events for English newspapers. In Trinidad, Cazabon's most important patron was Lord Harris, the English Governor from 1848 to 1854, recording many of his social functions and excursions. The Harris Collection of 44 paintings, now displayed at the family home at Belmont in Kent, England, is perhaps the most important collection of nineteenth century visual references of Trinidad. Several other less extensive, but important collections were commissioned by William Burnley, the Scottish-American planter, John Lamont and the Earl of Dundonald
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
. In 1857 he published a second series of eighteen lithographs of local scenes, "Album of Trinidad". In 1860 he published, with the photographer Hartmann, a series of sixteen lithographs titled "Album of Demerara", and in that same year contributed one of the scenes in "Album Martiniquais", published by Hartmann and the lithographer, Eugene Ciceri.
In 1862, Cazabon moved with his family to Saint Pierre in Martinique. He hoped that Saint Pierre, described then as the Paris of the New World, would offer a metropolitan spirit that Trinidad lacked, and provide a greater appreciation for his art. Finding much the same attitudes prevailing, he returned to Trinidad about 1870 and attempted to pick up the threads of his former life. Never to regain his social standing, he began to drink to dull his disillusionment. Hawking his paintings around Port of Spain, he became known only as a drunken, though gentle, old eccentric. In 1888, while working at his easel, he died of a heart attack, and the following day was unceremoniously buried in Lapeyrouse Cemetery.
His work was displayed in the Salon de Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
in Paris in 1839 and 1843-1847.