Rops Félicien

Félicien Rops was a Belgian artist born in 1833 in Namur and died in Essonnes/France in 1898. He was a painter, draftsman, engraver, etcher and lithographer. Enjoyed private tuition at home. Training at the College Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix and the Atheneum in Namur. Also attended classes at the Academy in Namur led by F. Marinus. Then went to study at the University of Brussels. Was in contact with French refugee intellectuals in Brussels. His first lithographs were created in 1852. Training in the Atelier Libre Saint-Luc, together with C. Meunier, Ch. De Groux and L. Artan (1854-1857). Founded the satirical weekly Uylenspiegel (1856-1862), to which Ch. De Coster cooperated. Also contributed to the student magazine Crocodile (1853-1859). Was married to Charlotte Polet de Faveaux from 1857 to 1874. Settled back in Namur in 1857, stayed often in Paris from 1868 and settled there permanently in 1874. He was called "le beau Fély". The seamstresses Amélie and Léontine Duluc became his mistresses. Léontine became the mother of Claire Rops, who married the writer Eugène Demolder. He resided there in literary circles, where he, among others, met Ch. Baudelaire, J.K. Huysmans and J. Peladan. Traveled a lot. His drawings, his lithographs and especially his etchings, for which he applied completely new techniques, were an outlet for his aggressive inspiration, which dealt with the conformism, the morals of his time and politics. Was particularly fascinated by the woman, who was usually seductive, sometimes perverse or presented as femme fatale in countless etchings. Some well-known records: Enterrement du pays Wallon (1863), Pornokratès (1878) n the Sataniques series (1883) and for Barbey d'Aurevilly the Diaboliques series. Became friends with A. Rassenfosse in 1886. Pseudonyms by F.R. used on some etchings and lithographs; Niederkorn, Jules Clarence, Lesly William, Vriel Eugène, Vriel Jules, Spoller, Wehr Heinrich, Marc Bruno. As a painter he realized (Maas) landscapes, seascapes, coastal views in the line of Th. Baron. He worked with daring, flowing keys and came to a spontaneous impressionism. Around 1860-1870 he usually painted characters, portraits of women or women with their finery. After 1870 the first landscapes arose in nature. Working in France, his color palette became brighter. Around 1875-1879 he often painted on the North Sea: dike, beach, harbor, dunes. In 1868 co-founder of the Société libre des Beaux-Arts, in 1875 of the Société Internationale des Aquafortistes, was also a member of the Group Les XX (1886-1893). Work in the Museums in Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, Namur (F. Ropsmuseum). Mentioned in detail in the Biographie Nationale of the Royal Academy of Belgium, volume XXXIII. Mentioned in BAS I, II and Two centuries of signatures of Belgian artists. (PIRON)

Correction by customer, name known to us: "
The sisters are called Aurélie and Léontine (instead of Amélie). They are not just 'seamstresses', but they headed the successful fashion house Duluc, which was highly regarded in Paris and later even had a branch in New York. Félicien Rops has designed several sketches for evening dresses and logos for their fashion house for them, among other things, they may have strongly influenced each other"