L'Allemand expulsé (The German Expelled)
Medium
lithograph on laid paper
Dimensions
image: 21 × 14 cm (8 1/4 × 5 1/2 in.) sheet: 50.4 × 35.1 cm (19 13/16 × 13 13/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.3875
Art Historical Context
Jean-Louis Forain's *L'Allemand expulsé (The German Expelled, a 1919 lithograph on paper, captures the raw patriotic fervor of post-World War I France. Printed just months after the Treaty of Versailles this work reflects the era's intense anti-German sentiment, as France reclaimed territories like Alsace-Lorraine and oversaw the expulsion of German civilians. Forain, a French artist known for his Impressionist roots and later satirical edge—influenced by Edgar Degas—turned to printmaking to voice national triumph and resentment through sharp social commentary. Lithography, Forain's chosen me...
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...