Woman Taking Off Her Chemise c. 1910

Jean-Louis Forain, a contemporary of Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec, created this etching called 'Woman Taking Off Her Chemise'. Forain, living through the transformations of late 19th-century Paris, often depicted scenes of modern life, especially those of the working class, which included the lives of women in intimate settings. Here, the woman, caught in a moment of undress, is depicted with a vulnerable honesty. The loose lines of the etching emphasize the casual, almost fleeting nature of the scene. The lack of idealization, a departure from traditional representations of the female nude, suggests an interest in portraying the everyday realities of women's lives. What is compelling is the emotional tension created by the starkness of the presentation. What does it mean to see this intimate moment, and what does it reveal about the relationship between the artist, the model, and the viewer? Forain's work invites us to reflect on the complexities of the female experience and the gaze through which it is often mediated.