Sketch sheet
1878
Medium
pen and black ink
Dimensions
8-3/4 x 8-1/16 in. (22.2 x 20.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Dana Broccoli, 1981
Accession Number
1981.1228.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
This intimate *Sketch Sheet* by Félicien Rops, created in 1878, the Belgian artist's masterful command of pen and black ink on a modest 8-3/4 x 8-1/16 sheet. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Drawings and Prints department (gift of Dana Broccoli, 1981 it features quick yet precise profiles and portraits of men, revealing Rops' keen observational eye during his prolific late-19th-century career. Rops, a key figure in Symbolism and fin-de-siècle art, bridged Realism's unflinching detail with emerging decadent themes. Here, the fluid ink lines—bold contours and subtle hatching—demonstrate...
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...