At the Club 

Jean-Louis Forain sketched "At the Club" with pencil on paper, capturing a fleeting moment. Note how the bowler hats, symbols of bourgeois respectability, sit atop faces etched with anxiety and perhaps disillusionment. The bowler, ubiquitous in late 19th-century cityscapes, speaks of a shared identity, a uniform of the modern man. Yet, observe its echo in earlier depictions of helmets, protective gear for warriors, now softened into everyday wear. The hat and furrowed brow invite comparison with portrayals of thinkers and philosophers, those who grapple with weighty questions. The gaze, averted and internal, hints at unspoken concerns. This pose can also be found in the figures of mourners on classical sarcophagi, their bowed heads expressing grief. The faces convey a sense of concern that taps into our collective memory of uncertainty. The artist captures an emotional essence that transcends time. The bowler hat reappears throughout history, each time subtly altered. Yet it always carries echoes of its past.