There is corn in the sea! 

Jean-Louis Forain rendered this watercolor and charcoal artwork, “There is corn in the sea!”, capturing a scene that is both simple and evocative. Here, two figures stand in the shallows. Their downcast gazes and the stark landscape invoke a feeling of loss. One figure holds what appears to be debris, a symbol of what’s been lost. This motif of searching through wreckage echoes classical depictions of lamentation, seen in ancient Greek tragedies and Renaissance paintings of mourning. Consider how the act of searching—whether for physical remnants or lost hope—recurs across cultures. Think of the grieving figures in Michelangelo’s Pietà, mirroring the emotional intensity seen here. The phrase written on the artwork “Il y a du blé dans la mer” (There is corn in the sea!) invokes the surreal image of fertility in a place of desolation, connecting to a deeper, almost primal yearning for renewal amidst despair. It speaks to our collective memory of survival and the cyclical nature of hope and despair.