Jean-Louis Forain und Jeanne Bosc in einer Gondel

Jean-Louis Forain (23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils,

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, pastel,

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

and lithograph. Compared to many of his Impressionist colleagues, he was more successful during his lifetime, but his reputation is now much less exalted.

Life and work

Forain was born in Reims, Marne but at age eight, his family moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. He began his career working as a

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

for several Paris journals including ''Le Monde Parisien'' and ''Le rire satirique''. Wanting to expand his horizons, he enrolled at the

École des Beaux Arts École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, studying under

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...

as well as another sculptor/painter,

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (11 May 1827 – 12 October 1875) was a French sculptor and painter during the Second Empire under Napoleon III. Life Born in Valenciennes, Nord, son of a mason, his early studies were under François Rude. Carpeaux en ...

. Forain's quick and often biting wit allowed him to befriend poets

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he start ...

and

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the '' fin de siècle'' in international and ...

as well as many writers, most notably

Joris-Karl Huysmans Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (, ; 5 February 1848 – 12 May 1907) was a French novelist and art critic who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans (, variably abbreviated as J. K. or J.-K.). He is most famous for the novel '' À rebour ...

. He was one of only "seven known recipients" to receive a first edition of ''

A Season in Hell ''A Season in Hell'' (french: Une Saison en Enfer}) is an extended poem in prose written and published in 1873 by French writer Arthur Rimbaud. It is the only work that was published by Rimbaud himself. The book had a considerable influence ...

'' directly from Rimbaud. He was the youngest artist to frequent and participate in the feverish debates led by

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

and Edgar Degas at the

Café de la Nouvelle Athènes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

in Montmartre. A follower and protégé of Degas, Forain joined the Impressionist circle in time to take part in the fourth independent exhibition in 1879; he participated in four of the eight Impressionist Exhibitions (1879, 1880, 1881 and 1886). Influenced by Impressionist theories on light and color, he depicted scenes of everyday life: his watercolors, pastels and paintings focused on Parisian popular entertainments and themes of modernity—the racetrack, the ballet, the comic opera and bustling cafés. Forain was the most famous caricaturist of the ''Belle époque'', and drew, among others, for the Figaro for more than 30 years. From 1898–1899 Forain worked as an illustrator for the weekly French magazine Psst...!, a satirical publication to promote the anti- Dreyfus. Aside from being influenced by his friend of over fifty years, Edgar Degas, Forain was greatly influenced by

Honoré Daumier Honoré-Victorin Daumier (; February 26, 1808February 10, 1879) was a French painter, sculptor, and printmaker, whose many works offer commentary on the social and political life in France, from the Revolution of 1830 to the fall of the second N ...

, and his treatment of subjects in his drawings for publications such as ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

'' and '' Le Courrier Francais'' are often reminiscent of Daumier's. In 1892 he published the first volume of ''La Comédie Parisienne,'' a collection of Forain's illustrations and commentary on the major political stories that disrupted France's Third Republic—such as the anarchic crisis and the

Dreyfus affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

. In 1891 Forain married the painter Jeanne Bosc with whom he had a son, Jean-Loup, born in 1895. During the first World War, Forain's illustrations honored the patriotism of his contemporaries, and he enlisted in the Section de Camouflage under Lucien-Victor Guirand de Scévola. In his later years, Forain created numerous scenes of the Law Courts and other Parisian institutions plus social satire caricatures of late 19th and early 20th century French life. In 1931, shortly before his death, he was made a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He was one of France's most famous and revered artists during his time. He was, perhaps, most highly respected for his numerous drawings which chronicled and commented on Parisian city life at the end of the 19th century. Followers and admirers of Forain's work included

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in th ...

Nazi-looted art

On 22 January 2020 two works by Jean-Louis Forain that had been found in the Gurlitt stash in Munich, hidden by the son of one of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's art dealer's

Hildebrand Gurlitt Hildebrand Gurlitt (15 September 1895 – 9 November 1956) was a German art historian, art gallery director who dealt in Nazi-looted art as one of Hitler's and Goering's four authorized dealers for "degenerate art". A Nazi-associated art dealer ...

, were restituted to the heirs of the Jewish art collector Armand Dorville.

Selected works

File:'The Place Clichy' by Jean-Louis Forain, Norton Simon Museum.JPG, ''The Place Clichy'', pastel, 1883–1884 File:Forain - the buffet.jpg, ''The Buffet'', oil, 1884 File:Jean-Louis Forain - Carnet de bal.jpg, ''The Prom Notebook'', pastel, c 1888 File:Jean-Louis Forain, Lower Box at the Theater, 1909, NGA 6872.jpg, ''Lower Box at the Theatre'', etching, 1909 File:The requisition - Forain, Jean-Louis.png, ''The Requisition'', 1919 Maîtres de l'affiche V 2 - Pl 51 - Jean-Louis Forain.jpg, Poster 51 in

Les Maîtres de l'Affiche ''Maîtres de l'Affiche'' (Masters of the Poster) refers to 256 color lithographic plates used to create an art publication during the Belle Époque in Paris, France. The collection, reproduced from the original works of ninety-seven artists in a ...

Maîtres de l'affiche V 4 - Pl 186 - Forain.jpg, Poster 186 in

References

Sources

* ''Jean-Louis Forain: The Impressionist Years''. Exhibition Catalogue. Dixon Gallery and Gardens,1995. * "Jean-Louis Forain: Artist, Realist, Humanist." International Exhibitions Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1982–1983. * * Charles Kunstler, Paris, F. Rieder & cie, 1931, 63 p. contient 60 planches hors-texte en héliogravure. * Florence Valdes-Forain, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A., The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, 2011

External links

Jean-Louis Forain exhibition catalogsMetropolitan Museum of Art ''Degas: The Artist's Mind''
online exhibition catalog {{DEFAULTSORT:Forain, Jean-Louis 1852 births 1931 deaths Artists from Reims 19th-century French painters French male painters French poster artists French portrait painters Religious painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists French caricaturists Impressionist artists French etchers French editorial cartoonists 19th-century French lithographers 20th-century French lithographers Members of the Académie des beaux-arts Camoufleurs Members of the Ligue de la patrie française 20th-century French printmakers Honorary Members of the Royal Academy 19th-century French male artists