M. Clemenceau. La lettre du Cte Czernin c. 1914 - 1919

Jean-Louis Forain made this drawing, M. Clemenceau. La lettre du Cte Czernin, using ink, and it's all about the line. The lines are sparse, economic, kind of scratchy. It's clear Forain wasn't trying to hide the process. You can almost feel him thinking as he draws. There's a sense of immediacy, like he's capturing a fleeting thought or gesture. Look at the way he's rendered the hand holding the tongs. The lines are confident, but not overly precise. They suggest form and volume without getting bogged down in detail. It's this tension between representation and abstraction that makes the drawing so compelling. The work reminds me of Daumier, who was a master of capturing social commentary with a few deft strokes. What both artists prove is that art doesn't need to be perfect or complete to be powerful.