Quand le boche se retire… c. 1917

Jean-Louis Forain made "Quand le boche se retire…" as an urgent observation, capturing a moment with what looks like charcoal or conte crayon on paper, a process of quick, decisive marks. There's a raw energy here, isn't there? The texture isn't about smoothness; it’s about the grit of the charcoal meeting the paper, a direct translation of emotion. Look at the way Forain uses hatching to build form, especially in the figure struggling with the sack. You can almost feel the weight, the resistance. It's like the marks themselves are fighting against the blankness of the paper. This reminds me a bit of Käthe Kollwitz, in the way Forain uses a limited palette and expressive mark-making to convey deep empathy and social commentary. Art isn't just about pretty pictures; it's about bearing witness, about making visible the invisible burdens people carry.