Looking for the Enemy c. 1914 - 1919

Jean-Louis Forain made this drawing of three figures, probably with ink on paper. The mark-making has an immediacy, a sketchiness, that tells us this is about process, about an artist thinking through the act of looking. I’m drawn to how Forain uses these quick, dark strokes to define the figure looking through binoculars; it’s as if the lines themselves are straining to see something in the distance. The other two figures are more relaxed, fading into the background with lighter, less defined lines. The texture feels almost journalistic, like a snapshot of a moment. The blank space around them is interesting too; it throws the figures into stark relief, suggesting a sense of isolation or quiet anticipation. You can see a similar method in the work of Kathe Kollwitz, who was a near contemporary. But where Kollwitz’s stark, heavy lines can be anguished, Forain’s mark-making seems more curious.