Félicien Rops

Félicien Rops was a Belgian artist of the Symbolist and Decadent movements, best known for his prints and drawings. His work mixes sharp social observation with dark, often provocative imagery of skeletons, devils and femmes fatales, drawn with a precise, nervous line.

Born in Namur, he studied in Brussels and began as a caricaturist for satirical papers. In Paris he learned etching techniques from Félix Bracquemond and became a sought-after illustrator, making frontispieces for Baudelaire and illustrations for Barbey d’Aurevilly’s Les Diaboliques. He also painted landscapes and scenes of modern life. The Musée Félicien Rops in Namur holds thousands of his prints and drawings.

La Mort au Bal, with a skeleton dancing in a ball gown, shows his dark wit.