Jean-Louis Forain Prints
Explore Jean-Louis Forain prints depicting ballet dancers, theatre audiences, racegoers and scenes of Parisian life. A French Impressionist painter and printmaker, Forain (1852–1931) observed people on stage, behind the scenes and at leisure. Discover reproductions of his artwork as fine art paper prints, framed prints and canvas options.
Jean-Louis Forain: ballet, theatre and Parisian life
Jean-Louis Forain found many of his subjects in the theatres, cafés and racecourses of Paris. His ballet pictures look beyond the performance to dancers waiting in the wings, dressing rooms and encounters backstage. Elsewhere, theatre boxes, fashionable spectators and racegoers place the audience at the centre of the scene.
This collection brings together these subjects with portraits, coastal scenes and quieter moments outdoors. Works such as In the Wings, La Loge and The Artist’s Wife Fishing show the range of settings and people that interested him.
A painter and printmaker among the Impressionists
Born in Reims in 1852, Forain worked in oils, watercolour and pastel, as well as etching and lithography. His friendship with Edgar Degas helped bring him into the Impressionist circle, and he participated in four of its exhibitions between 1879 and 1886. His paintings share the group’s interest in contemporary life, while his drawings and prints also reveal the sharp social observation for which he became known.
For more paintings of modern life, explore our Impressionist Art Prints. Discover further figure studies and characterful faces in Portraits and People Fine Art Prints.
