A Dive at Montmartre 1909

Jean-Louis Forain made this etching, A Dive at Montmartre, with ink on paper, and to me, it’s all about the process. The lines feel urgent, like Forain was trying to capture a fleeting moment. Look at the way he uses hatching to create shadows and depth. It’s almost frantic, but so effective. You can feel the smoky atmosphere of the Montmartre dive. I imagine Forain, sketching rapidly, trying to get it all down before the scene shifted. The way he renders the faces, especially the woman leaning on the table, is so evocative. Is she tired? Bored? Sad? It’s all there in the scratchy lines, an image of ambiguous emotion. It reminds me a little of Daumier's social realism, but with a more personal, intimate touch. Ultimately, like all great art, it embraces the uncertainty of feeling.