Félicien Rops - his acquaintances and friends
Museums of Namur |
Félicien Rops Museum |
Guided tour
As Octave Mirbeau said "Namur by birth but a
Parisian at heart." The artistic and literary elite of the
time recognised in Félicien Rops an exceptional person, exceeding
by far the image of the libertine conforming to fashion that up until
then had been the general consensus concerning him. Many became his
friends, Rops illustrated their works or maintained enthralling
correspondences with some. He was an excellent letter writer and
several thousands of his letters have been preserved.
Among his correspondents were
Charles Decoster,
J. Barbey d'Aurevilly,
Peladan,
Verlaine,
Mallarmé,
the Goncourt brothers...
There was also and perhaps most importantly
Charles Baudelaire,
with whom the Namur artist formed a deep friendship during
Baudelaire's time of voluntary exile in Belgium. As Baudelaire
confided in
Edouard Manet: "Rops is the one true artist
that I have found in Belgium!"
Bernadette Bonnier
Last modified: Fri Mar 22 12:25:33 MET 1996
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