News in the Trenches c. 1914 - 1919

Editor: This drawing is called "News in the Trenches" by Jean-Louis Forain, likely created sometime between 1914 and 1919. The medium is charcoal. It’s bleak. I mean, just the title combined with the harsh lines—it feels like exhaustion and despair. What stands out to you? Curator: That feeling of bleakness is palpable, isn't it? Forain has this incredible ability to distill emotion with so few lines. Notice how he uses shadow - the way the soldier's face is obscured creates such a powerful sense of anonymity. The charcoal almost seems to grind against the paper, like the war grinding against these men. Makes you wonder what kind of "news" they're getting. Hopeful? Or just another dose of reality? Editor: It definitely doesn’t seem hopeful! Is it me, or is there something unfinished about it, the figures in the back especially. Does that contribute to the emotional impact, do you think? Curator: Absolutely. It feels raw, doesn't it? That unfinished quality amplifies the sense of urgency, like the moment is fleeting, brutal, and impossible to fully capture. He’s not glorifying anything, just showing the human cost. Almost as if finishing it would somehow be a disservice to their suffering, because suffering itself is unresolved. It’s heavy. Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way – a kind of…respect through incompleteness. It’s a powerful idea. Curator: Isn't it? For me, it's a stark reminder that art doesn’t always need to be beautiful to be profoundly meaningful. It can be a mirror, reflecting back the uncomfortable truths we’d rather ignore. What do you take away from it all? Editor: I guess that art can be more about questioning than answering. It's definitely stuck with me. Thanks!