-Un farman -non c’est un boche._ c. 1914 - 1919

Editor: This drawing, “-Un farman -non c’est un boche._” by Jean-Louis Forain, likely created between 1914 and 1919, is rendered in pencil. There's a stark contrast in the heavy lines used for the figures compared to the landscape, giving the figures a solid feel while making the landscape dissolve. What do you make of its historical context? Curator: This work offers a powerful, immediate commentary on the First World War. Forain, an established artist, became a war propagandist, documenting the French experience. The drawing style itself—quick, almost journalistic—conveys a sense of urgency and immediacy. This allows him to speak on class, race and privilege within the experience of warfare. Editor: Journalistic seems right; it’s almost as if we’re glimpsing a fleeting moment captured in the trenches. Curator: Exactly. And the inscription – “Not a Farman, it’s a Boche” – reveals a crucial element of the piece's historical significance. “Boche” was a derogatory term for a German soldier during the war. Forain’s piece invites a conversation about national identity, dehumanization, and wartime propaganda, doesn’t it? Who has the privilege of naming? Of documenting? Editor: It's jarring how casually the dehumanization comes across. Curator: Yes, but the intimacy between the soldiers resists a singular, cold reading. Are we meant to see tenderness? Comradeship? Forain isn't giving easy answers, but asking us to dwell in the reality of war, rather than accept propaganda. Editor: I see what you mean. The drawing's quick, suggestive style and its inscribed words are in conversation about war, but also the representation of war. Curator: Precisely. And that is what makes it such a potent and unsettling image. Thanks for digging deeper. Editor: Thank you, that was really helpful. I see it in a new light now!