The Red Iron (Le Fer Rouge)
1871
Medium
etching
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1946.11.187
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Félicien Rops, a pioneering Belgian artist (18331898), created *The Red Iron (Le Rouge)* in 1871, a striking etching that captures his signature blend of eroticism, the macabre, and social satire. Active during the turbulent late 19th century, Rops bridged Realism and the emerging Symbolist movement, often illustrating works by poets like Charles Baudelaire. This print, housed in the National Gallery of Art's Rosen Collection, reflects the era's fascination with decadence and the darker impulses of human nature, produced shortly after the Franco-Prussian War amid Paris's bohemian art scene whe...
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...