1912
crayon
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Avant la fête persanne is a 1912 crayon by Jean-Louis Forain, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows two women indoors. One sits at a table, wearing a large hat and a dark coat, her head tilted back as if relaxing. Behind her, another woman stands, adjusting her hair with both hands. The room has simple furniture—a chair, a table, and a small mirror—and the lines are loose and sketchy. The artist used quick, rough strokes to suggest movement and mood rather than detail. The title *Avant la fête persanne* hints this might be a moment before a party, but the drawing feels more like a snapshot than a polished scene. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists build texture with lines.
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.
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