Apres l'attentat, Juin '97
Medium
brush and black ink watercolor on wove paper
Dimensions
overall: 26 x 39.4 cm (10 1/4 x 15 1/2 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.9049
Art Historical Context
Jean-Louis Forain's *Après l'attentat, '97* (After the Assassination Attempt, '97), created in 1897, captures the raw tension of a pivotal moment in France's turbulent fin-de-siècle era. As a master draughtsman and former caricaturist who mingled with Impressionists like Degas and Manet, Forain often turned his keen eye to contemporary social and political upheavals. This work, executed just months after the event referenced in its title—an anarchist "attentat" that shook Paris—serves as a journalistic snapshot, blending immediacy with incisive commentary on public outrage and aftermath. Rend...
About the Artist
Jean-Louis Forain
Jean-Louis Forain was born Louis Henri Forain on October 23, 1852, in Reims, France, to a family of modest means; his father painted ornamental signs. The family relocated to Paris when he was eight, where young Forain developed a passion for drawing inspired by the sculptures of Reims Cathedral and the masters at the Louvre, which he began copying at age fourteen. He received drawing lessons from...