Page 10 - The Michigan Daily - Saturday, June 11, 1983
Humanism dominates Forain art
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By Suzanne Ramljak
N UDES, JUDGES, DANCERS, art-
ists, barons, the poor, the wealthy,
and the martyred are a few of the sub-
jects that can be found, sensitively ren-
dered, in the art of Jean-Louis Forain
(1852-1931).
Ann Arbor is given the rare oppor-
tunity of viewing the works of this ver-
satile artist when the exhibit, entitled
"Jean-Louis Forain: Artist, Realist,
Humanist", opens today at The Univer-
sity of Michigan Museum of Art.
Forain's works promise to provoke
sympathetic, if not exuberant, respon-
ses and thought they are not works of
genius, his art does reveal considerable
technical skill and. through carefully
handled scenes, imparts an aray of sen-
timents.
In his time, Forain was known
foremost for his satiric newspaper and
journal illustrations. His illustrations
were prized for their wry humor and in-
cisive views. To a lesser extent he was
also recognized as a painter, draf-
tsman, and printmaker. This exhibit
succeeds in representing the 60-year
span of Forain's multiple talents.
Throughout his artistic career,
Forain displayed a great range of sub-
jects and styles. His early works (1879-
1900), are marked by a strong Im-
pressionist influence. Forain was in
close association with many of the Im-
pressionist painters of his day, in-
cluding Renoir and Degas, and con-
t.rimpa oTrcinn ct.. i ii nc
His early works contain many of the
popular Impressionist subjects,
featuring scenes from the theater, cafe
life, and the racetracks. These scenes
often evoke a mood of gaiety and high
spirits.
Forain's style during this period was
decidedly Impressionistic, employing
the characteristic loose brushwork. His
Impressionist tendencies can be clearly
noted in two works entitled "The
Racetrack" and "The Buffet," both
featured in the exhibit.
In 1891, following his marriage to
fellow artist Jeanne Bosc (whose por-
trait is on exhibit), Forain's artistic
preoccupations changed. His primary
focus became that of domestic and
political life. Forain also began a shift
away from the colorful palette and
naturalistic lighting he had previously
used. The shift was towards the darker,
more sober, shades of brown, grey and
black with which he often contrasted
white for dramatic effect. The light in
his paintings became either very dim or
unnaturally accentuated.
Rekindled religious convictions led to
yet another change in Forain's art
during the years between 1900-1920. In
this stage we witness the emergence of
religious themes from the New
Testament. Scenes of Christ, The Holy
Family, and the Prodigal Son fill his
pages and canvases. Tones of brown
and grey give these scenes a somber
mood.
Courtroom scenes, filled with the suf-
fering and callousness of the justice
system, were also a major focus of this
period. In these mature works Forain
often captures the grief of our human
drama in poignant and sensitive
scenes.
Following 1920 Forain's work began
reflecting the lighter, more colorful
themes of his early period. While con-
tinuing to depict religious and cour-
troom scenes, he also portrayed the
livelier Parisian night life once again.
Paintings, watercolors and drawings
from each period of Forain's develop-
ment can be found on exhibit. The
variety is impressive and documents
an artistic life of exploration and
changing values.
Though Forain's scenes show a shif-
ting emphasis during his career he
remained a loyal humanist throughout,
managing to render each subject with a
strong eye for human emotion and
feeling.
Forain is occasionally cited as an ex-
perimenter of style and a major in-
fluence on Toulouse Lautrec, though it
is not Forain's technique or stylistic in-
novation that make him a noteworthy
artist, for in these respects Forain was
basically conservative and derivative.
Rather it was his ability to capture the
sentiments and mood of his time that
makes him an outstanding figure in the
history of art.
Diva evening. (Satruday, June 11;
(Jean-Jaques Beineix, 1982) Auditorium A, 7:30, 9:45).
Defini;tely a summer movie. Not like Star Trek - The Motion
many films you've seen before, Diva Picture
doesn't so much tell a story as it (Robert Wise, 1979)
creates a world of visual style. What Millions waited more than a decade
for the screen version of everyone's
favorite space opera. And boy, were
they disappointed. Instead of the
usual happy-go-lucky adventurers,
audiences saw Kirk, Spock, McCoy,
and the rest of the crew subjected to
over two hours of dull, inarticulate
plot there is concerns a youngster in- meanderings, culminating in a befud-
fatuated with an esoteric opera singer dung metaphysical conclusion. If
and getting chased by a bunch of you're looking for tongue-in-cheek
thugs and the police. Everything in space trekking catch a rerun or wait
the film exists solely to support the for Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.
picture's vivid imagery and pacing. It (Sunday, June 12; Michigan Theatre
is a wonderfully refreshing movie, the (unaJue1;MciaThtr
perfect thing for a hot summer 4:30,7:00, 9:30).
TS 22 YEARS L ATER KAND tiCe'sLthCe man any woman neealCCs.
NORMAN BATES IS COMING HOMEC
DEV~offGERE in
A ~ ~ BETNT HONYBREAH-
PERKINS LESS
UNIVRA-OA ITR AN ORION PICTURES RELEASE
BANARAR~e j(UPPER LVL)
MON, TUE, THUR FRI, 7:10-9:25 MON, TUETUR FRIE7:20-9:30
SAT, SUN, WED, SAT, SUN, WED,
100-3:00-505-710-9:25 05 -310-s 15-7:20-9:30
LOCATED IN THE HEART SFAARBORJTHEATRE C
INDIVIDUAL THEATRES
$2.00 WED, SAT, SUN SHOWS BEFORE 5:30 pm
Fossbinder
Film
MON-7:20 9:30 TUES -5:10 7:20 9:30
SAT, SUN--1:003:005:107:209:30
They weren't
looking for a fight!
MATT
TeDILLON
Cutsiders
They were
looking to
belong.
MON--6:00 8:00 10:0(.G)
SAT, SUN--2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00
TUES-4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00
Gee, Wally,
everyone
can come.
(Continued from Page 1)
you and me could go all the time."
"I wish it were still around."
"Yeah well it's hard to make money
at something like that, I guess, Whitey."
"But what about the other bands,
Beav?"
"Well they're Ground Zero and Dis-
Missile. Ground Zero is a bunch of guys
like Wally's age, but they really move
around a lot and the singer's got a real
short haircut. I think the guys in Dis-
Missile are really young, too. I don't
know too much about them."
"Gee, Beav. It sounds like a really
great time. But hey, if it's at a bar,
won't it be real late?"
"Ah no. The show'll start at 2 and it'll
be over by 6 o'clock. You can still make
it home for supper."
"Do you think Wally would take me
too, Beav?"
"Yeah, probably. But you better
make sure it's okay with your mom fir-
st."
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