Jean-Louis Forain (23 October 1852 - 11 July 1931), French Impressionist draftsman-satirist, painter, etcher, lithographer and illustrator.
He was born in Rheims, in a modest family. He studied with J. de la Chevreuse and for a short while he enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Mostly a self-taught artist, he spent a lot of his time at the Louvre and at the Bibliotheque Nationale, where he drew copies of famous artists. He began painting in the studio of Andre Gill in 1870. He was a friend and disciple of Degas and participated at the last four editions of Impressionist exhibition.
Between 1887 - 1890 he was one of the most admired and feared satirical artists of the Parisian press, contributing with drawings to several prestigious publications.
He had his first solo exhibition at the Galerie Boussod-Valadon, Paris, in 1890. After 1900 he produced a series of law-court scenes, in dark tones. He died at Le Chesnay, near Versailles.
