La loge fleurie (1885)

Jean-Louis Forain prints bring the cafés, dance halls, theatres and law courts of Belle Époque Paris into your home, seen with a sharp and witty eye. Forain was an Impressionist painter and a protégé of Degas, and also the most famous caricaturist of his day. Our collection of fine art prints includes his café and ballet scenes, courtroom pictures, etchings of Lourdes, wartime drawings and portraits.

About Jean-Louis Forain

Jean-Louis Forain was born in Reims on 23 October 1852 and moved to Paris with his family at eight. He began as a caricaturist for Paris journals, then studied at the École des Beaux-Arts with Jean-Léon Gérôme and with the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux.

His wit won him friends among poets and writers, including Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine and Joris-Karl Huysmans, and he was the youngest artist in the debates led by Manet and Degas at the Café de la Nouvelle Athènes. A follower of Degas, he showed in four of the eight Impressionist exhibitions, painting racetracks, ballet, comic opera and crowded cafés.

He drew for Le Figaro for more than thirty years and published his collection La Comédie parisienne in 1892. In 1898–1899 he drew for the satirical weekly Psst, on the anti-Dreyfus side. He married the painter Jeanne Bosc in 1891. In the First World War he served in the army's camouflage section, and later he painted many scenes of the law courts. He was elected to the Royal Academy in London in 1931 and died in Paris on 11 July 1931.

Style and Subjects

Forain's paintings share the Impressionist interest in light and modern life, but his eye is sharper and more satirical, much influenced by Honoré Daumier as well as Degas. His scenes catch a glance between a gentleman and a dancer, a weary lawyer, a client and a model.

He worked in oil, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithography, with quick, expressive lines and often a dark, restrained palette lit by touches of colour.

Famous Works

• The Client (1878), Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Memphis. A gentleman and a woman in an interior, an early Impressionist work.
• The Café of the New Athens. The Montmartre café where Manet and Degas held court.
• The Tub (1886), National Gallery of Art, Washington. A woman bathing, in the spirit of Degas.
• Music Hall (1895), Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg. An evening in a Paris music hall.
• Recess of the Court (1901), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Lawyers relaxing in the corridors of the courts.
• Self-Portrait (1906), Musée d'Orsay, Paris. The artist in his fifties.
• The Miracle at Lourdes. One of his etchings of pilgrims at Lourdes.

Decorating with Forain Prints

Forain's café and theatre scenes suit living rooms, dining rooms and home bars, bringing the atmosphere of Belle Époque Paris. Ballet pictures such as Dans les coulisses suit a bedroom or dressing room.

His courtroom scenes are a natural choice for a lawyer's office or study, and his etchings and drawings make a refined group in black frames for a hallway or library.

FAQ

Who was Jean-Louis Forain?

Jean-Louis Forain was a French Impressionist painter, printmaker and caricaturist who lived from 1852 to 1931. He was a protégé of Edgar Degas.

Did Forain exhibit with the Impressionists?

Yes. He took part in four of the eight Impressionist exhibitions, in 1879, 1880, 1881 and 1886.

Why is Forain known as a caricaturist?

He was the most famous caricaturist of the Belle Époque and drew for Le Figaro for more than thirty years, commenting on Parisian life and politics.

Who influenced Forain?

His friend of fifty years, Edgar Degas, and the caricaturist and painter Honoré Daumier were his main influences.

Where can I see Forain's work?

Works are in the Musée d'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Hermitage, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Dixon Gallery in Memphis.

Related Artists

• Edgar Degas: his friend and mentor
• Honoré Daumier: caricaturist and painter who influenced him
• Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: painter of Parisian nightlife who admired his work
• Jean-Léon Gérôme: his teacher at the École des Beaux-Arts