After the Seizure 1908

Jean-Louis Forain made this etching, After the Seizure, at some point in his career. It's all about the scratching, the quick, darting lines that create this image of a family walking, or maybe fleeing, through a city. You can see the buildings sketched in the background, all verticals and diagonals like the world is caving in. The marks are raw, urgent. Look at the woman's shawl, the way it's suggested with these furious scribbles. It's not about detail, it's about feeling. The dad seems to have this hunched posture. It seems like he is weighted down with invisible burdens. There are tiny marks that create their faces, but they appear worn. Forain hung out with Degas and the Impressionists, but he was always drawn to the gritty side of life. Like Daumier, he used his art to capture the plight of the downtrodden. He seems to be suggesting that life can be a bit messy, a bit sad, but maybe there's a strange beauty in that too.