Rops, Félicien

Rops, Félicien (fālēsyăN` rôps), 1833–98, Belgian painter, etcher, and lithographer. In 1857 he founded a satirical journal, Uylenspiegel, for which he made lithographs and caricatures. From c.1862 he lived principally in Paris and became noted as an illustrator of unusual imagination and an artist of great technical skill. Today Rops is best known for the erotic nature of his work and his pictorial explorations into the world of vice. He illustrated the poems of Baudelaire. His etchings include the series of the Sataniques and the Album of 100 Sketches.

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Rops, Félicien 

Born July 7, 1833, in Namur; died Aug. 23, 1898, in Essonnes, near Paris. Belgian graphic artist and painter.

Rops received his artistic training at the St. Luke Workshop in Brussels. In 1865 he moved to France, where he was influenced by Daumier, the impressionists, and Toulouse-Lautrec. A master of lithography and etching, Rops experimented extensively with color lithography. His works included political cartoons, cartoons dealing with customs and etiquette, and illustrations. He is best known for his allegorical compositions, which combined naturalistic erotic scenes with pretentious mystical symbolism. His symbolism unfailingly included the motifs of masks, harlequins, death, and sphynxes.

REFERENCE

Brison, C. F. Rops. Paris, 1971.