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“La fille putain et la mère ivre” by Félicien Rops, charcoal and watercolor on paper, monogrammed and dated in the center.
A key figure in the art of the second half of the 19th century, Rops was born in Namur in 1833 and enrolled at the Université Libre de Bruxelles in 1851 to study law. He immersed himself in the student cultural effervescence and helped found Uylenspiegel, a satirical weekly.
It was here that he certainly developed the free, non-conformist style that was to follow him throughout his life. Close to literary circles, he embodied an art that was both decadent and visionary, heralding the symbolist and modernist aesthetics to come.
The drawing presented here is typical of Félicien Rops' acidic, gritty spirit. It depicts a scene in Antwerp's Rydeack district, famous for its brothels. The drunken, almost skeletal mother's face contrasts with the girl's youthful appearance, and echoes the many representations, abundant in Rops' work, where Eros and Thanatos merge, where death and seduction mingle in a macabre dance.
Frame size : 40x34.5cm
