Woman Seated in Profile 1909

Jean-Louis Forain made this print of a woman seated in profile at an unknown date. I love how the etching needle here seems to dance across the plate, the image emerging from a cloud of lines. There is a sense of immediacy and intimacy here, as if Forain sketched her quickly, capturing a fleeting moment. I can imagine him in the studio, quietly observing his model, trying to capture her essence with a few, well-chosen marks. The lines around her head are almost like a halo, suggesting the complexities and contradictions within her. Forain's work reminds me of other artists like Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, who were also interested in capturing the energy and vitality of modern life. They were all part of an ongoing conversation about how to represent the human figure in a way that felt both honest and expressive. And as artists we build upon each other's work, responding to and challenging the ideas that came before us.