Dixon exhibition print collection Forain Jean Louis Les Pessimistes
Jean-Louis Forain, Les Pessimistes, 1915. Lithograph on paper. Gift of John and Lynn Murray in honor of William and Mary Murray, 2016.3.31

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From Marne to the Rhine: Forain and World War I

Oct 13, 2018 - Jan 6, 2019

This fall, the Dixon will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day with a selection of Jean-Louis Forain’s striking press illustrations of the Great War. With more than 200 war cartoons published in weekly and daily newspapers, Forain became the spokesman for the common soldier on the western Front, the main theatre of war approximately located between the Marne and the Rhine rivers.

Showing the drama underneath the comedy, the drawings give with emotion, irony, pity, sorrow, indignation and compassion, a priceless testimony of how military and political events affect populations. From the Marne to the Rhine: Jean-Louis Forain in World War I will encapsulate the artist’s unique style and incredible science of composition, which undoubtedly contributed to the evolution of the art of the editorial cartoon.