1909
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
L'avocat parlant au prévenu (2e planche) (The Lawyer Talking to the Prisoner) (second plate) is a 1909 ink by Jean-Louis Forain, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows two men in a dim, crowded space. One sits slumped, his face half-hidden, while the other leans in close, gesturing urgently. The lines are scratchy and thick, like they were drawn fast—almost frantic. The background is a tangle of more figures, all blurred into a mass of overlapping strokes. The artist used a technique where ink is scratched into a metal plate, then pressed onto paper. That’s why the lines look both sharp and fuzzy at once. It’s like the scene was drawn in a hurry, full of tension. Try looking up etching to see how this process works.
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.
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
