Félicien Rops

Félicien Rops was born in Namur in Belgium and died in France, in the Parisian suburbs, in Corbeil Essonne. “Painter, draftsman, illustrator, caricaturist, etcher and master engraver, he draws then engraves his works himself. It excels equally well in flat engraving such as lithography, intaglio engraving such as etching, drypoint and aquatint, as well as in reproduction engraving such as rotogravure. To paint and draw, he develops his own techniques and mixtures of paint, graphite, colored pencil, pastel, tempera, etc.

Its subject is that of "The Human Comedy" in the same vein as Aubrey Beardsley, these two great Masters of drawing and line will be largely misunderstood by this choice that some qualify as "Dare", even if it is beautifully expressed. under their pen or brush.

His painting "Pornocrates", or "The Lady with the pig" represents for some the advent in Art of a contemporary woman, arrogant magnificently glorified by Rops, for the hypocrites with avaricious love, her art is considered pornographic. But for Rops, he paints what he sees: "The love of brutal pleasures, the preoccupations with money, the petty interests which have stuck on most of the faces of our contemporaries a sinister mask or the instinct of perversity , of which Edgar Poe speaks. »

Rops marries Charlotte Polet de Faveaux, met at university, they live in Namur, then in Brussels where they have a house built on avenue Louise, then they settle in the castle of Thozée, which his wife inherits. Rops invites many artists including Charles Baudelaire.

He draws then engraves the prints for the works of Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, Félicien Champsaur or Stéphane Mallarmé. For the French publisher Auguste Poulet-Malassis, exiled in Brussels, he produced the frontispieces of "Bas-fonds de la société" by Henry Monnier, "Diable au corps" by Andrea de Nerciat, "Épaves" by Charles Baudelaire, Théophile Gautier's “Jeunes France", Alfred de Musset's “Gamiani", Vivant Denon's “Point de matin".

In Paris, the journalist Alfred Delvau commissioned from him the drawings and engravings of the frontispieces of his works: "Anecdotal history of the Cafés and Cabarets of Paris", "The Parisian Cythères", "Anecdotal history of the balls of Paris" and the "Modern erotic dictionary ". These commissioned works led Rops to accompany the journalist to the Parisian slums to document himself and were soon to become his favorite subjects with "La Buveuse d'absinthe The publisher Auguste Poulet-Malassis, in Paris, commissioned his drawings and engravings from Rops for thirty-four erotic works which would shock prudish Tartuffes. In Paris, as in Brussels, Rops collaborated with “La Chronique des arts et de la curiosity", a supplement to “La Gazette des beaux-arts".

Rops loves women who reciprocate him, so soon chased out of the Château de Thozée which belongs to his wife, he leaves Belgium for Paris for good and settles with his lovers, the sisters Léontine and Aurélie Duluc, fashion designers. In Paris, Rops frequented the artists of the Café Guerbois and also met Victor Hugo there. He buys a house in the Parisian suburbs in Corbeil-Essonnes where he will live until his death. This is where he invites his friends Alphonse Daudet, Nadar or Octave Uzanne. The Legion of Honor was awarded to him and two years before his death a retrospective of his works was organized at Drouot in Paris and the magazine “La Plume" devoted a special issue to him. The Félicien ROPS Museum pays tribute to his work in Namur, Belgium. » Extract from the book by Lise Cormery, « Art de l'Ecole de Paris », Editions Michelangelo, Paris, 2021