1
Portfolios%3D%221386%22%20and%20Sort_Artist%3D%22Forain,%20Jean%20Louis%22
Drawing
The Protector in the Wings (Le protecteur dans les coulisses)
Jean Louis Forain, (Reims, France, 1853 – 1931, Paris)
Forain, Jean Louis
France
1853 - 1931
Male
12 3/4 x 9 9/16 in. (32.4 x 24.3 cm)
.
.
.
sheet
sheet
.
.
.
overall
frame
Pen and ink
Pen and ink
ca. 1881
1876
1886
Drawing
Forain, a follower and protégé of Edgar Degas, participated in the Impressionist exhibitions of 1879, 1880, 1881, and 1886. He was influenced by Impressionist theories on light and color. His watercolors, pastels, and paintings focused on Parisian popular entertainment and themes of modernity, including scenes of the ballet, the opera, and the racetrack.
The ballerinas of 19th-century France often came from the lower classes of society and were viewed as little more than cabaret performers. Ballet dancers frequently had a wealthy male patron who also served as her protector, escort and lover. Along with his interest in theater and ballet, Forain’s work is characterized by his satirical commentary on modern life and, in his later years, interest in social injustice. In this drawing, the attentive stance and focused gaze of the backstage “protector” suggests the proprietary nature of his relationship with an unseen ballerina as she performs on stage.
[Label copy from Monet: Vision and Process exhibition, 2018]
lower right, in imagein image
1986.116
item
Memorial Art Gallery
2/22/2001
86.116TR1
transparency
2 x 3
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
86.116SL1
slide
full
2 x 2
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
glossy
8x10
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
negative
4x5
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Graphics/blank.gif
86.116DI#2
digital image
Memorial Art Gallery
1/9/2008
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/86.116_A2.jpg
86.116DI#1
digital image
00/00/00
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/86.116_A1.jpg
86.116DI#3
digital image
4/7/2009
http://127.0.0.1:5000/Media/images/86.116_A3.jpg