Jean Louis Forain Research Paper

Jean-Louis Forain Jean-Louis Forain, the famous French painter, printmaker, and illustrator, was born on October 23, 1852. Sometime in the 1860’s, Forain and his parents moved to Paris where he started to study under Jacquesson de la Chevreuse, Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, and André Gill who were all great French artists. Forain had the opportunity to meet Édouard Manet because of his friendship with Edgar Degas. “In 1879 Forain was invited by Degas to join the fourth Impressionist exhibition, and he exhibited again with the Impressionists in the fifth (1880), sixth (1881) and eighth (1886) exhibitions…” (Oxford Art). Forain worked as an illustrator for many people and companies. He drew albums and had his art work on front covers of magazines. He started to make prints around 1875. Forain’s painting style changed after 1900. He changed how he painted and what he painted. Forain was an 18th Century artist who represents the realist or impressionist movement. Jean-Louis Forain painted Le Client in 1878. This was a period of time where Forain’s painting took to another level of excellence. He was influenced by the Japanese style of painting, as was every painter during that time period. Forain was able to capture different emotions through his paintings. Le Client is an excellent work done by pencil and watercolor. That
painting was shown at the Fifth Impression exhibition, the second Impressionism exhibition Forain attended. One of his influences on this painting was Edgar Degas. Degas had done many studies of prostitutes being inspected inside of brothels. The painting is of an old man, an inspector, who is examining the prostitutes. This conveys the immorality of the brothels and of the prostitutes. Other artists created paintings that tried to convey that prostitutes were a source for human decay Le Client is one of those paintings. Jean-Louis Forain created Le Buffet in 1884. This piece was publically shown at the 1884 Salon. Le Buffet was painted with oil and was a large painting. Forain was headed in another direction with his work when he painted this. He wanted to paint a socially acceptable theme: a party. Forain painted Le Buffet while under the influence of James Tissot who had painted party scenes earlier in his career. Le Buffet, the buffet, is a painting of people who were upper class citizens who were enjoying themselves. Degas also had an influence on this particular painting. Forain demonstrates his Japanese take on painting which allowed him to create a balance that was influenced by both Degas and Tissot. In early January of 1878, Forain finished his painting Le Bar aux Foiles Bergère. This painting was influenced and influenced Édouard Manet, who would later paint his own version of Le Bar aux Foiles Bergère in 1881. This painting was created using watercolor. Forain was very interested in reflective surfaces, thus the mirror behind the woman. Forain uses the mirror to his advantage in this painting. Forain, by this painting, possibly influenced other older painters to allow the older painters to remain “hip” and in stride with the younger painters. Jean-Louis Forain’s work impressed me with his extensive use of both watercolor and oil.
I believe he was one of the great 19th century painters. I was impressed with the fact that he was a painter, an illustrator, and printmaker. He also impressed me with his extensive use of shading and reflection. He brought the characters to life in each of his paintings, not just the ones I talked about. Unfortunately, Forain’s paintings are not very valuable in today’s society. The most on of his painting was selling for was around one hundred and thirty dollars. Despite this, Forain had a positive impact on what I think I will be able to draw in the
future.

Works Cited http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/autumn11/review-of-jean-louis-forain-18521931-la-comedie-parisienne http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T028923?q=Jean-Louis+Forain&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit