Au Restaurant - In the Restaurant by Jean Louis Forain, 1852-1931

Jean Louis Forain, 1852-1931
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Au Restaurant - In the Restaurant

Original lithograph in black ink. 1908. Signed in pencil. Numbered 3 in pencil (from the edition of 50 impressions). Printed at the studio of Belfond, Paris 1908. With the Belfond blindstamp lower right. Rare.
Ref: Guérin - Forain Lithographs no 1
Note: Forain's first lithograph and one of the great master works of his print oeuvre.

Brilliant rich impression. On cream laid paper. Excellent condition. Full margins - one of the impressions on large paper. Sheet: 17 3/4 x 22 3/8ins. Image approx: 8 3/8 x 12 1/8ins (213x307mm).

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Au Restaurant is the first print in Forain's oeuvre in lithography, and it is one of the great images of 'turn-of-the-century' printmaking. The insight into situation and the wit in the drawing, as well as the sheer inspiration in the actual handling of the chalk, show why Forain must be considered amongst the greatest master-draughtsmen of his era.

Forain made his first reputation as an illustrator for some of the humorous periodicals in Paris in the 1880's. He had a brilliant turn of line, and by the 1890's he was widely regarded as amongst the very finest artists in his genre. He was a complete printmaker with a total and extremely inventive approach to the media he used. By the years just after the turn-of-the-century his genius in drawing was at its peak. The range of tone in the shading and scraper work in this lithograph is exceptional, whilst the humour of the image, as the woman at the table empty of food eyes the plutocratic meal of the fat bon-viveur next-door, is classic in its appeal.