Hiding the "louis" c. 1914 - 1919

Editor: This is "Hiding the 'louis'" by Jean-Louis Forain, created around 1914 to 1919 using charcoal. It has a bleak and unsettling mood, and the figures seem so vulnerable. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Well, the most striking thing to me is how Forain uses recognizable symbols of the era – the soldiers' uniforms, the 'louis' coins possibly representing wealth or privilege - and twists them. Note how one soldier seems to be concealing another who’s strangely posed, like a mannequin. The mannequin itself wears what appears to be the helmet of the opposing army. Doesn’t that resonate with the psychological stress and moral ambiguities of wartime? Editor: It does, definitely! So, the hiding isn’t just physical, but maybe a hiding of allegiance or even identity? Curator: Precisely. Forain masterfully conveys the trauma and moral compromises of war by unsettling familiar visual cues. We, as viewers, grapple with this image, attempting to understand the "louis" – the thing that is precious or valuable - that needs to be hidden, the "why," and perhaps the betrayal in the act of hiding. Don't you find it asks questions about who is on whose side, and what value truly means when everything is in conflict? Editor: I never thought about the distortion of symbols expressing internal conflict, but that really sheds new light on this piece! Thanks. Curator: It's fascinating how these historical events are encoded through the transformation and layering of visual language, isn't it?