In the Park at Versailles 1909

Jean-Louis Forain’s “In the Park at Versailles” is a whisper of a drawing, a fleeting moment captured, or almost missed. The etching is all about process, the delicate dance between the artist's hand and the copper plate. Look how the lines are scratched into the surface, light and airy. The park isn’t so much depicted as suggested, a memory fading in the sun. The mass of scribbled lines that make up the trees feels alive, like they’re rustling in the breeze. It's all so ephemeral. What gets me is the bareness, the lack of detail. It's as if Forain is saying, “Here’s the essence, the feeling of the place.” Reminds me a little of Whistler, with that same sense of melancholy and impression. Art isn't about answers, but about questions, about the experience of seeing.