Ceux de la priemiere heure. ‘Sire! ou en somme-nous de ‘la guerre fraiche et joyeuse’…’ III c. 1914 - 1919

Jean-Louis Forain made this drawing, Ceux de la premiere heure, using black crayon on paper. It depicts a fallen soldier in a barren field, a stark reminder of the horrors of war. Imagine Forain hunched over his paper, the crayon scratching against the surface as he tries to capture the scene before him. The weight of the subject matter must have been immense. You can feel the immediacy of the moment, the raw emotion conveyed through the rough, gestural marks. Look at the way he uses light and shadow to create depth, pulling us into the desolate landscape. The skeletal figure on the right is so moving - a memento mori. It reminds me of other war artists like Otto Dix and Kathe Kollwitz, who also used their work to confront the brutal reality of conflict. You get the sense that Forain is not just documenting what he sees, but also grappling with the moral and ethical implications of war, questioning the cost of human life in the name of duty and country. Artists are always answering each other's questions.