La Fête-Dieu à Paris (Corpus Christi in Paris), Jean Louis Forain

Exhibition Label: "Machine in a Void: World War I & the Graphic Arts," Mar-2010, Steve Goddard Jean-Louis Forain’s graphic illustrations appeared in many of the major French periodicals of his day, and he was greatly admired for the immediacy of his drawings. Despite his keen satirical eye, Forain was also a patriot, volunteering for military service at the age of 62. He continued to produce hundreds of illustrations while serving on the Western front, of which this drawing is one. In addition to his patriotism, Forain was a devout Catholic, a fact that adds an additional layer of meaning to this already heavily ironic drawing. The image is of a Catholic altar decorated for Corpus Christi, a feast day celebrated in France and Germany. The altar is in the process of exploding, possibly under artillery fire, and the caption points the viewer’s anger towards Felix von Hartmanm, the Archibishop of Cologne at the time and a strong believer in the legitimacy of World War I and the German invasion of Belgium. The irony of one Catholic country bombing another during a shared religious holiday is clear, as is Forain’s anger at a war in which churches were considered legitimate targets.