Sur le Front. -C’est sa theorie -Non, c’est son breviaire. c. 1914 - 1919

Jean-Louis Forain made this drawing, Sur le Front, with pencil, and maybe some charcoal or conté crayon, on paper. It’s all about the process, right? You can see his hand moving across the page. I love the economy of line here. It’s like he's trying to capture the essence of a moment with the fewest marks possible. Look at the way he renders the figures; they're not fully formed, but just suggested with a few quick strokes. There is a tension between the detail in the faces and hands of the figures, and the more gestural treatment of their bodies. The medium is laid down in hatched lines, giving the image depth and form. It feels unresolved, like a sketch, but that's part of its charm. Forain was a contemporary of Degas, and you can see a similar interest in capturing fleeting moments of modern life. But where Degas often focused on the elegance of ballet dancers, Forain was drawn to the grittier realities of Parisian life. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about questions.