Letter to Theo Hanon, from Rops, signed Fély
Medium
pen and brown and black ink
Dimensions
top half: 8-5/8 x 10-3/4 in. bottom half: 8-5/8 x 5-1/2 in.
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Dana Broccoli, 1981
Accession Number
1981.1228.10
Art Historical Context
This intriguing piece from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Drawings and Prints collection is a personal letter written by Belgian artist Félicien Rops to Theo Hanon. Titled “Letter to Theo Hanon, from Rops, signed Fély,” the work is executed in pen and brown and black ink across two sheets whose dimensions suggest it may have been folded or composed in sections. The informal signature hints at a close or playful relationship between the correspondents. As a drawing rather than a purely textual document, the letter exemplifies how Rops used the fluid possibilities of ink to blend writing and ...
About the Artist
Félicien Rops · 1833–1898
Félicien Rops, born Félicien Victor Joseph Rops on July 7, 1833, in Namur, Belgium, to a prosperous textile manufacturing family, displayed prodigious artistic talent from youth. The only child of Nicholas Rops and Sophie Maubile, he received private tutoring until age ten, followed by education at a Jesuit school in Namur (1843–1848), the Athénée Royal de Namur, and the Academy of Fine Arts there...