Félicien Rops Belgian, 1833-1898

This condition report has been provided by Jane McAusland FIIC, Conservator and Restorer of Art on Paper, Nether Hall Barn, Old Newton, Nr Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14. C O N D I T I O N R E P O R T SOTHEBY'S - SYMBOLISM AND THE POETIC VISION - 14 NOVEMBER 2007 Lot 288 Félicien Rops Belgian, 1833-1898 L'ENLEVEMENT (LES SATANIQUES) Pencil on paper 46 x 30 cm Support The artist has used sheets of paper with a printed base of cream on part of the sheets which have been cut from a larger sheet or sheets. Rops's use of this paper may have let to these drawings being labelled as prints. The condition is good. Medium The pencil and in places wash medium is also in a good condition. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions. JANE McAUSLAND London office: Flat 3, 41 Lexington Street, Soho, London W1F 9AJ Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works Jane McAusland Limited trading as Jane McAusland FIIC
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LES SATANIQUES (lots 288-291)

The following three drawings and a watercolour are originals from Rops' 1882 series Les Sataniques (The Satanic ones), which he intended to publish as prints. This ambitious project was the occasion for Rops to experiment with new techniques. Many were unsuccessful, and their failure led the artist to abandon the project.

Intended as a poem on the possession of woman by the devil, Rops conceived the idea of the series as early as 1878-79. It was to include twelve illustrations and texts on a modern woman's infatuation with and devotion to the devil. Though the album was never completed, Rops produced five of the prints in two editions between 1882 and 1895, namely Satan semant l'ivraie (Satan sowing tare), L'Enlèvement (The Abduction), L'Idole (The Idol), Le Sacrifice (The Sacrifice) and finally Le Calvaire (The Martyr). 

In order to produce his colour lithographs for the album Rops went through an elaborate process of experimentation. He would produce numerous preliminary sketches which would lead to a finished drawing of the subject (lots 288-290), which in turn would lead to the original watercolour versions (lot 291). The watercolours would then be used as the ultimate images on which the colour lithographs for the album would be based.

Les Sataniques relate to Rops' earlier series Les Diaboliques. However, contrary to the latter, which were designed as illustrations for Barbey d' Aurevilly's novel of the same title, Les Sataniques were not based on a literary text but were entirely the product of Rops' imagination.

For comparative literature for all four works see: Robert Delevoy, Gilbert Lascault, Jean-Pierre Verheggen, Guy Cuvelier, Félicien Rops, Brussels, 1985, p. 162-165 (the prints illustrated ) and Ottokar Mascha, Felicien Rops und sein Werk, Munich, 1910, p. 263, nos. 658-660 (the lithographs catalogued).