J.L. Forain
c. 1912
Medium
drypoint on wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 16.8 × 12 cm (6 5/8 × 4 3/4 in.) sheet: 24.9 × 20.8 cm (9 13/16 × 8 3/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.3827
Art Historical Context
Jean-Louis Forain, French painter, printmaker, and caricaturist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, created this intimate drypoint around 1912. Forain moved in Impressionist circles and drew inspiration from artists like Edgar Degas, yet he developed a distinctive style marked by incisive social observation and fluid draftsmanship. The work’s simple title suggests a self-portrait or personal study, offering viewers a direct encounter with the artist at a mature stage of his career. Drypoint was ideally suited to Forain’s expressive approach. By scratching directly int...
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...