Looking for the Enemy c. 1914 - 1919

Jean-Louis Forain made this drawing called *Looking for the Enemy* with confident strokes of ink on paper. I imagine Forain, maybe in a trench himself, quickly sketching these soldiers. Look at the man standing, the most prominent figure. With thick, dark marks Forain captures the weight of his coat and the tension in his posture. It’s like he’s there, right? You can feel that sense of urgency through the marks. The other figures are huddled together, a mass of shadows and uncertainty. Forain uses the bare minimum of lines, but it's enough, like shorthand for fear and exhaustion. It reminds me of Goya's war etchings – that same sense of dread and the human cost of conflict. It's like Forain is saying, "This is what it feels like, the waiting, the searching, the never knowing."