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This is a poster for the Exhibition of Woman's Art at the Palace Palais de l'Industrie, celebrating "The Parisisian Woman of the Century. The drawing skill of the artist comes through in the handling of the young lady, in evening gown, with full-length white gloves, that unveils the notice of the exhibition, so to speak. She casts a knowing look towards the viewer. The artist's rendering of her dress and the drapes she unveils, are drawn exquisitely. The English art dealer William Weston writes, "Forain was one of the most gifted and individual French draughtsman of the period…He was an artist who had an exceptional eye for expressive gesture…He observed the mannerisms and movements of people with an uncanny skill and an often biting satirical eye" (Weston No.1 2000, 15)

Forain was a prolific painter and lithographer, but is best known for his book designs and numerous illustrations for leading periodicals such as Le Rire…He produced only few posters"(Bicycle, 20)
Lautrec and Forain, by Ricardo Opisso (Spanish 1880-1966)

Jean-Louis Forain specialized in painting, print making, and illustration. Trained at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he showed with the Impressionists and worked as a caricaturist for a number of French illustrated newspapers. During the First World War, he served in the Section de Camouflage and as a war correspondent. A number of the caricatures he published with the popular press became posters and postcards. Forain was a harsh critic of his own paintings, a complicated medium he professed that was difficult to determine if and when it was finished. Nonetheless his work influenced the style of a younger generation of more socially conscious artists including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.