Good job, Dixon Gallery and Gardens - you've accomplished something that I didn't think was possible. Your exhibition of the works of Jean Louis Forain have gone and made me like impressionism.

I went into the show expecting more blurred paintings of well-dressed people enjoying a day at the park or more realistic depictions of the French countryside and came out wanting to drag my friends to the show over and over again.

The exhibit follows the Jean Louis Forain's growth from his early sketches of Paris Cafes to the backstage of the ballet, to World War I and the end of his life. The Dixon is the first American museum to host the retrospective of his work, which was curated by his great granddaughter.

I was especially into the earlier works featured in the main gallery. The sketches and paintings are joyful and funny and energetic, clearly the work of someone young, bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. Most of them feature Paris' low life - there are portraits of prostitutes, people enjoying the cabaret and men that have enjoyed a little too much of everything.

The later pieces show Paris society at play, albeit in a realistic and not always flattering light. Old men grope dancers backstage at the ballet and people attend horse races and completely ignore the jockeys in favor of being gossiping and being seen. Also, there are lots of top hats and handlebar mustaches.

I was impressed with how large and how thorough the show was. It sprawls through the Dixon's galleries, which have been repainted and slightly reconfigured. The paintings, sketches and mosaics (of the paintings) are grouped in chronological order, and there's a huge timeline at the gallery's entry that explains what was going on in Forain's life alongside what was happening in France at the turn of the century.

The Forain exhibit will be on display at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens through Oct. 9. Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for students. Be sure to save your ticket - you can use it to get into the Brooks Museum for their sister show, The Impressionist Revolution.

The Dixon has given me two pairs of tickets to the Forain show to give away. If you'd like one of the pairs, just leave a comment. I'll pick two winners at random at 9 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 8.

Go there:

Jean Louis Forain: La Comedie parisienne

Now - Oct. 9, 2011

Dixon Gallery and Gardens