French Soldier

Jean-Louis Forain French

Not on view

Known for works made in the Impressionist style and for his caricatures, Forain joined the French army in 1915, at the age of 62, after his son was wounded in the war’s first year. He was among a group of artists who helped develop camouflage for military equipment. For the next three years he served as a roving correspondent at the front, submitting his drawings—both documentation and satire—to a variety of journals. In this example, Forain uses quick, spare lines to suggest a soldier’s pause between duties, arms tense and one foot propped up on the base of his rifle.

French Soldier, Jean-Louis Forain (French, Reims 1852–1931 Paris), Conté crayon

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