The Belgian printmaker Félicien Rops (1833-1898), born in Namur, spent his career between Brussels and Paris. He achieved renown – and notoriety – both for his technical innovations (after devoting himself exclusively to etching from 1865, he experimented tirelessly and was one of the few figures in the etching revival to practice soft-ground etching) and for the subject matter of his prints, which tended toward the macabre and the erotic (and sometimes frankly pornographic).

Rops was, however, capable of working in many registers, something which served him well in his collaborations with a wide range of writers. The present work is the title for a biography of the Barbizon painter Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) by Alexandre Piedagnel; it comes from an edition of 500. The etching is not after a specific work by Millet but is instead a skilful pastiche of typical elements of his work (bare trees in a rocky landscape, a peasant woman with wooden clogs); the lettering of the title is interwoven with the tree’s branches with a panache that seems to anticipate the formal innovations of printmakers such as Pierre Bonnard in the 1890s.

Professor David Bindman (acquisition date unknown); Gift of David Bindman (in memory of Professor John House), 2012

Inscription: inscription : printed : within image & recto : : Felicien Rops 1875

Inscription: inscription : handwritten in pencil : lower margin centre & recto : : F.Rops