Femme nue, s'essuyant les pieds (planche en hauteur) (Nude Woman Drying Her Feet) (vertical plate)

Forain employed lithography as the primary medium, a process that allowed for multiple impressions, and added crayon directly onto the printed surface to introduce color accents. The application of yellow and green is restrained, highlighting details without overwhelming the delicate tonal modeling achieved through the lithographic base.

Jean‑Louis Forain, active in the late nineteenth century, worked across oils, watercolours, pastels, etchings, and lithographs. While associated with the Impressionist circle, he achieved greater commercial success during his lifetime than many of his peers, and this print reflects his practice of producing works that appealed to a broad market.

The late 1800s saw many artists using lithography for rapid, reproducible images that could be sold to a growing middle‑class audience. Forain’s informal, almost notational approach aligns with contemporary trends toward capturing fleeting moments and everyday scenes, a hallmark of Impressionist sensibility.