Felicien Rops

by Patrick Bade

Felicien Rops is a very surprising artist. Engraver and drawer of exception, Felicien Rops captures and anticipates, with an astonishing talent, the female bodies with great modernity. Abandoning the conventional forms of the time, the artist creates a world full of humour, tenderness and, at times, insolence for the jubilation of the spectator's eye.

Genres: Art

104 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the best compendium ever of a painter. This is a NEAT little book with SUPERB prints and paper quality. The text sadly does not relate to the pictures next to it, BUT gives a rough image of the circumstances Rops lived in/by and sums up his life/character. From other reviews I sense that the text is not always 100% accurate in translations... but it shows the soul of the painter nontheless and the troubled relationships he had with the female in general. Do not take it too serious, but enjoy the view, I'd say.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

No more than just a superficial look at the dear Mr. Rops, which is hardly a damning comment, as that's exactly what the book is supposed to be---merely a chapbook-like glimpse at the artist. I do wish the author would have gone a BIT more in depth, though, as each text page has an inordinate amount of slacking white space, and it would seem dutiful to use it in some manner, if not with some more art, than more words, more words, more life. Also, as with so many art books (why do the scoundrels do this?) much text is tossed away by explaining what I'm looking at in a piece of art. "Ahh, this panel, according to the text, has a devilish man soliciting a lady. Why, I never could have guessed that by merely looking at the painting! Bravo, dear Explainer!"

Criticisms aside, if you just need a quick Rops snack, this pops into your brain quite nicely.

[Hamletmaschine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lo encontré abandonado en una mesa de la librería Gandhi, qué crimen. Un pintor fundamental para entender el Simbolismo en el arte europeo de fines del S. XIX. Esta es la edición más económica que se puede conseguir en torno a tan importante artista, influencia directa en figuras tan dispares como lo pueden ser Edvard Munch y J.K. Huysmans. Un artista muy admirado por León Bloy.

Muy recomendable.