Félicien Rops

Biography

Félicien Rops was born on July 7, 1833, in Namur. He was a Belgian artist associated with Symbolism and Decadence. Rops demonstrated his artistic talents across various fields including painting, printmaking, etching, and aquatint, as well as illustration, caricature, and drawing. He spent most of his life in France, where he produced frontispieces and illustrations for editions by several notable authors such as Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, Charles Baudelaire, Charles De Coster, Théophile Gautier, Joris-Karl Huysmans, Stéphane Mallarmé, Josephin Peladan, Paul Verlaine, and Voltaire. He is especially recognized for his engravings and drawings that illustrate the erotic and occult literature of his time. Among his notable works are "The Lady with the Puppet," "Pornocrates," "The Temptation of St Anthony," and "Bust of a Woman Wearing a Lorgnette around her Neck." Félicien Rops died on August 22, 1898, in Essonnes.