Spaightwood Galleries

Forain was one of the most important artists of the first few decades of the twentieth century, frequently compared to Rembrandt for his emotional power as an etcher. His drawings were regularly reproduced just as Daumier's had been in the mid-19th century, but Forain's not only ridicule follies but sympathisize with the poor and the unfortunate. He was one of Ambroise Vollard's stable of artists (along with Renoir, Rouault, Chagall, Dufy, and many others), and the works included in our exhibition—four lithographic figure studies—were commissioned by Vollard for a portfolio of nudes by his artists (including Renoir and Cezanne) that, like many of his other projects, never materialized. We are also including seven drawings acquired since our last exhibition.

Select bibliography: Yves Brayer & Alicia Faxon, Jean-Louis Forain: Artist, Realist, Humanist (Washington, D.C.: International Exhibitions Foundation, 1982); Jean-François Bory, Forain (Editions Henri Veyrier, 1979); Lilian Browse, Forain. The Painter. 1852-1931 (London: Paul Elek, 1978); Campbell Dodgson, Forain: Draughtsman, Lithographer, Etcher (NY: M. Knoedler / Merrymount Press, 1936); Alicia Faxon and Sinclair Hitchings, Jean-Louis Forain, 1852-1931: Works from New England Collections (Framingham, MA: Danforth Museum, 1979); Alicia Faxon, Jean-Louis Forain: Artist, Realist, Humanist (Baltimore: Garamonde/Pridemark Press for theInternational Exhibitions Foundation, 1982), Marcel Guerin, J. L. Forain Lithographe. Catalogue Raisonne of the Lithographic Work (1910; rpt. San Francisco: Alan Wofsy, 1980); Marcel Guerin, J-L Forain Aquafortiste. Catalogue Raisonne of the Engraved Work (1912; rpt. San Francisco: Alan Wofsy, 1980); Charles Kunstler, Forain (Rieder, Maîtres de l'Art Moderne, 1931), Theodore Reff and Florence Valdes. Jean-Louis Forain: The Impressionist Years (London: The Dixon Gallery and Gardens Collection, 1995);  Malcolm Salaman, Modern Masters of Etching 4: J. L. Forain (London: The Studio, 1925); Maurice Talnmeyr, Album Forain (Paris: Librairie Plon, circa 1900; a collection of satirical drawings with captions); Léandre Viallat, En écoutant Forain (Paris: Editions Flammarion, 1931).

Study of soldiers. Original ink and crayon drawing, c. 1898-1902. On laid paper, signed "Forain" in crayon, lower right. A soldier stands guard duty; behind him and looming over him, a sketch for an officer, hands clasped behind his back, head down, moves rapidly. Some foxing, remains of old brown paper tape on verso. Image size: 300x445mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Untitiled. Original ink and crayon drawing, c. 1898-1902. On wove paper watermarked "Chapron Coquelin Paris." A large, prosperous-looking man holding a walking stick like a rifle, strides away from a soldier wearing a medal and missing one leg, his outretched hand extends hopelessly towards the back of the other. Soiled at the right edge away from the image.. Image size: 255x380mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

An encounter. Original ink drawing, c. 1898-1902. Done on cream wove paper watermarked "J-L Forain." Two men, one angry, the other raising his hands as if to fend the first one off, are the focus of this piece. One, determined and intense, moves towards the other, who is backed up against a wall. There is an unfinished sketch on the reverse. Image size: 253x368mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Unfinished sketch on the verso of "An encounter" (above). Original ink drawing, c. 1898-1902. Done on cream wove paper watermarked "J-L Forain." Image size: 253x368mm. Price: free with purchase of the drawing above.

Etude de deux femmes et un avocat. Original pencil drawing, c. 1898-1902. Done on tan wove paper, these two women (mother and child? prostitutes?) wait apprehensively, the older trying to confort the younger while herself visibly tense) while a lawyer looms above them. This is a study for Forain's original lithograph, "La Peroration" (Faxon 287). Forain was one of the first people Picasso wanted to meet when he arrived in Paris. Initialed lower right. Image size: 320x215mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Untitled. Original ink drawing, c. 1898-1902. Done on cream wove paper watermarked "Forain," one man pleads before another. Both wear top hats, buit the one on his knees, has clearly seen better days. The other, hands behind his back, seems unlikely to respond. Image size: 266x200mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Untitled. Original crayon drawing touched up with ink, c. 1898-1902. Done on cream wove paper. A well-dressed man stands looking over his shoulder at a large table draped with a cloth but otherwise empty. Some foxing. Image size: 240x283mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Untitled. Original crayon drawing touched up with ink, c. 1898-1902. Done on cream wove paper. In a bare room a man, perhaps a prisonoer, in loose clothes stands looking out of a high window, both hands resting on the sill. Some browning at the edges. Image size: 315x390mm. Price: Please call or email for current pricing information.

Spaightwood Galleries, Inc.

To purchase, call us at 1-800-809-3343 (1-508-529-2511 in Upton MA & vicinity) or send an email to spaightwood@gmail.com.
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For directions and visiting information, please call. We are, of course, always available over the web and by telephone (see above for contact information). Click the following for links to past shows and artists. For a visual tour of the gallery, please click here. For information about Andy Weiner and Sonja Hansard-Weiner, please click here. For a list of special offers currently available, see Specials.

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