The Corridors of the Palace of Justice 1908

Jean-Louis Forain made this etching, "The Corridors of the Palace of Justice", with an understanding of artmaking as a process, a process of quick, spiky marks that create volume and depth. Look at how he's scratched into the plate, creating a whole world with just a few lines. The main figure is so alive, so present. You can almost feel the weight of his coat, the way it bunches and folds. It reminds me a bit of Daumier, with that same feeling of capturing a moment, a mood, with such simple means. There's a nervous energy in those lines, a feeling of being caught in the middle of something chaotic and maybe a little sad. Notice how that energy contrasts with the solid lines of the architecture behind the figures, or maybe the solid lines of the architecture serve to heighten the contrast. It's not about perfection, it's about feeling.