Une Journée parlementaire
Medium
photolithograph in black on wove paper
Dimensions
sheet: 29.8 x 22.7 cm (11 3/4 x 8 15/16 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of The Atlas Foundation
Accession Number
1995.76.25
Art Historical Context
**Une Journée parlementaire (A Parliamentary Day)**, created by French artist Jean-Louis Forain in 1894, captures the biting satire for which he was renowned. Forain, a master of caricature influenced by Edgar Degas and the Impressionist circle, often skewered the hypocrisies of Parisian society, particularly its political elite. This photolithograph depicts a chaotic "day in parliament," likely poking fun at the bombast and futility of French Third Republic legislators amid scandals like the emerging Dreyfus Affair. Its small scale—29.8 x 22.7 cm—made it ideal for widespread distribution as s...
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...