Félicien Rops
| Félicien Rops | |
|---|---|
 Detail from The Members of the Société Libre des Beaux-Arts by Edmond Lambrichs |
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| Born | 7 July 1833 Namur |
| Died | 23 August 1898 (aged 65) Essonnes (present-day Corbeil-Essonnes) |
| Nationality | Belgian |
| Field | Printmaking, Etching |
| Training | University of Brussels |
| Movement | Symbolism and Decadence |
Félicien Rops (7 July 1833 – 23 August 1898) was a Belgian artist, and printmaker in etching and aquatint.
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Early life [edit]
Rops was born in Namur, the only son to Nicholas Rops and Sophie Maubile.[1] He was educated at the University of Brussels. Rops's forte was drawing, and it was as a draftsman rather than a painter in oils that he made his reputation. He first won fame as a caricaturist.
In 1857, he married Charlotte Polet de Faveaux, with whom he had two children: Paul and Juliette. Juliette died at a young age.[1]
After the failure of his marriage, he moved to Paris in 1874.[2] There, he lived with the Duluc sisters: Aurélie and Léontine Duluc. With Léontine Duluc, he had one daughter, Claire.[3] Claire went on to marry Belgian author Eugène Demolder.
Rops's eyesight began to fail in 1892. He kept up his literary associations until his death.
Félicien Rops was a freemason and a member of the Grand Orient of Belgium.[4]
Relationship with Baudelaire [edit]
Rops met Charles Baudelaire towards the end of the poet's life in 1864, and Baudelaire left an impression upon him that lasted until the end of his days.[5] Rops created the frontispiece for Baudelaire's Les Épaves, a selection of poems from Les Fleurs du mal that had been censored in France, and which therefore were published in Belgium.
Rops's association with Baudelaire and with the art he represented won his work the admiration of many other writers, including Théophile Gautier, Alfred de Musset, Stéphane Mallarmé, Jules Barbey d’Aurevilly, and Joséphin Péladan. He was closely associated with the literary movement of Symbolism and Decadence.
Art [edit]
Like the works of the authors whose poetry he illustrated, his work tends to mingle sex, death, and Satanic images. Felicien Rops was one of the founding members of Société Libre des Beaux-Arts of Brussels (Free Society of Fine Arts, 1868–1876) and Les XX ("The Twenty," formed 1883).
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Pornocrates (1896), etching and aquatint
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Satan Sowing Seeds (from Les Sataniques, 1882)
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"The Sphinx", illustration by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly for Les Diaboliques
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La Buveuse d'absinthe, 1877
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Illustration du livre d'Octave Uzanne, Son altesse la femme (1885)
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Human Parody
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Saint Teresa's ecstasy
Bibliography [edit]
- P. & V. Berko, "Dictionary of Belgian painters born between 1750 & 1875", Knokke 1981, p. 565-566.
- P. & V. Berko, "19th Century European Virtuoso Painters", Knokke 2011, p. 513, illustrations p. 145.
References [edit]
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This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (August 2009) |
- ^ a b Bonnier; Maliconi, N.; Carpiaux, V. "Félicien Rops Biography 1833-1861". Retrieved 17 October 2011. Unknown parameter
|firs1=ignored (help) - ^ "Rops, Félicien". 21 March 2008. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ "Félicien Rops Biography 1874-1888". Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ^ Felicien Rops "Félicien Rops (1833-1898)". Retrieved 21 August 2008.
- ^ "Biography of Félicien Rops". Retrieved 17 October 2011.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Félicien Rops |
- The Musée Félicien Rops in Namur (English, French)
- Félicien Rops paintings
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