Jean-louis Forain, Gallant Conversation, Around 1885

Jean-Louis FORAIN (1852-1931)
Gallant conversation, circa 1885
Watercolor on paper, signed and dedicated "to Lisette" lower right
35.50 x 23 cm

Provenance : Private collection, France

Certificate of inclusion in the catalog raisonné of the work of the artist, in preparation, established by Madame Valdès-Forain

Jean-Louis Forain was born in Reims on October 23, 1852. In 1876, while he was leading a bohemian life in Montmartre, Forain published his first satirical drawings in Le Scapin, then in La Cravache parisienne, La République des lettres, La Vie Moderne, finally Le Monde parisien. Close to Degas, the painter participated in Impressionist exhibitions from 1879 to 1886 thanks to the master's initiative and emerged from obscurity. The artist has an incisive eye on Parisian life and prefers scenes of everyday life to large representations.

Forain's line is of acerbic power, he castigates bourgeois conventions and denounces political contradictions in a rapid style with vibrant colors. His favorite subjects are linked to his time, performance venues, street scenes, cafes and racetracks. From 1886, the dealer Durand-Ruel exhibited his paintings in New York alongside Degas, Manet, Renoir, Monet, and Pissarro. At the same time, the artist continued his work as an illustrator for major newspapers, which provided material for his crude interpretations of Parisian society.

From 1900, Forain's palette darkened in the service of committed works representing the First World War. In 1913, a monographic exhibition dedicated the work of Jean-Louis Forain at the Museum of Decorative Arts with nearly four hundred works.

The painter died on July 11, 1931 at his home in Paris.