Jean Louis Forain

1852 - 1931

French

Jean-Louis Forain (1852-1931) was a French painter and printmaker, as well as a veteran of the Franco-Prussian War. His illustration career began in 1876 when he published a drawing on the cover of Le Scapin. He began printmaking around the same time. The style, subject, and medium of his prints varied until the turn of the century, when he settled on etching images of more profound emotion. His painting changed as well, his color palettes and imagery becoming far more poignant. In 1915 Forain began his work as a correspondent for Le Figaro, in which he covered World War I in its entirety, creating disquieting and solemn images of the war. He ended his career on high standing, his work wholly admired by his peers and friends as well as by a new generation of artists who were influenced by his open condemnation of injustice, greed, and war."