a) Scène de grève (3e planche) (Scene of a Strike) (third plate) (recto); b) Untitled (verso)

Jean-Louis Forain

National Gallery of Art

This is a drawing of a crowd gathered around a man standing on an elevated platform. The scene depicts an event where a large group of people is focused intently on a central figure who appears to be addressing them. The group is huddled together, filling the lower half of the drawing and drawing the viewers' eyes toward the figure standing above them. The man at the center is depicted in a coat, hat, and holding an umbrella. Behind the gathering, an industrial landscape is visible with structures such as factories and smokestacks under a cloudy sky. The drawing uses soft shading and lines to convey both the mass of people and the industrial setting.