Artwork
a) Bolo pacha (recto); Study for Bolo pacha (verso)
a) Bolo pacha (recto); Study for Bolo pacha (verso) is an ink drawing by Jean-Louis Forain. It dates from 1916 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Bolo pacha (recto); Study for Bolo pacha (verso) is a dual-sided drawing by Jean-Louis Forain, created circa 1916. The work features two distinct renderings of a scene on either side of a wove paper sheet.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing depicts a dimly lit interior with two male figures: one crouched on the floor in a forward-leaning pose, and another standing, clad in a hat and long coat, holding a bag. The subject's identity and context are specified by the title 'Bolo pacha', though the figures' actions and relationship remain interpretively open.
Technique & Style
Forain executed the recto with brush and black ink, supplemented by black crayon, and later corrections in white opaque watercolor. The verso, a study for the same subject, is rendered solely in black crayon. The lines throughout are characterized by looseness and quickness, suggestive of rapid sketching.
History & Provenance
Created around 1916, this work is part of Forain's oeuvre, which, despite his greater contemporary acclaim compared to some Impressionist peers, is now less widely recognized in comparison.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jean-Louis Forain (French pronunciation: ; 23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithograph.
a) Au congres de la Paix (recto); b) Untitled (verso)
a) Fetters (recto); b) Sketch for Fetters (verso)
Le démobilisé
Discharged from Military Service
The Economic Withdrawal
Le demobilise
Le Christ dépouillé de se vêtements (Christ Stripped of His Clothes)
a) Waiter and Customer (recto); b) Sketch of a Man and Woman (verso)
Before the Repast at Emmaus
Studies of a Suffolk Labourer
Fille-mère (1ère planche) (Unwed Mother) (first plate)
At the Peace Conference