Jean-Louis Forain – Finally Alone!

“I want to run away just to be with my feelings for you.”

(Anais Nin)

Jean-Louis Forain, Enfin Seule! (Finally Alone), c. 1890, watercolour

Ahh! To be alone – is there anything sweeter in the world? Well, there are some things sweeter… But, being alone, being left alone is truly the most beautiful, precious gift at times and that is why the watercolour “Finally Alone” by Jean-Louis Forain appeals to me so much these days. The watercolour shows a woman in an intimate setting, dressed in her undergarments and black stockings, lounging on the bed with her feet up, smoking a cigarette and getting lost in a reverie. The style is so vague that it is more a sketch than a proper finished painting, but the style goes very well with the carefree mood. The colour palette is simple as well, besides grey and black, the purple and yellowish-brown for the woman’s hair are the only actualy colours. I love the way the smoke of the cigarette is sketched with the pen. A quote from Anais Nin’s diaries came to my mind “I want to run away just to be with my feelings for you.” because sometimes, when I am in love, even sweeter than spending time with the person is being alone afterwards, being left alone for lengthly periods of time afterwards, so that I may contemplate the face of my beloved, soften with my imagination all the sharp edges of reality, relieve in my mind all that has happened, every kiss, every word, and add more and more to it, fantasise about what could have happened or what I wished would happen, until the reality is transfigured into fantasy and then I may fully enjoy it at last.

Jean-Louis Forain, Enfin Seule! (Finally Alone), in Le Courrier Français, c. 1890