Sketches of Six Heads in Profile (caricatures?) (recto); Sketch of Head and Blank Rectangle (verso)
Medium
Graphite and black chalk on paper
Dimensions
sheet: 10 3/4 x 6 15/16 in. (27.3 x 17.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. & Mrs. Albert Broccoli, 1979
Accession Number
1979.668.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Discover the whimsical yet incisive *Sketches of Six Heads in Profilecaricatures?) (recto); Sketch of Head and Blank (verso)* by Félicien Rops, a Belgian artist renowned for his provocative drawings and etchings in the Symbolist and Decadent of the late 19th century. On the front, Rops captures six male heads in sharp profile, their exaggerated features hinting at caricature—perhaps satirical jabs at bourgeois society or character studies from his early career illustrating Parisian journals. The verso offers a lone head sketch alongside a mysterious blank rectangle, inviting viewers to ponder ...
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...