Félicien Rops, Figure, Original Signed Drawing

Félicien ROPS (1833 - 1898) Antwerp dairy Original drawing. Brown and black pencils on paper monogrammed lower left. Dimensions: 30.5 x 19 cm (at sight) This work, by the great Namur artist, is of absolute rarity considering his youth (before 1870 as indicated in the preface to the F. Olin collection catalogue). It is a preparatory drawing from which several plates were made, now unobtainable. The catalogue lists three prints, lot 88 and 89, indicated as being a “very old and extremely rare plate, one of Rops’s first attempts”, as well as lot 208 “proof of the 1st state on Japanese paper (very rare)”. Erasme Ramiro, an expert in the sale, specifies “although these plates of scribbles and sketches are only attempts and studio studies (…) a large number present finesse of execution of the greatest interest. Moreover, most are of remarkable rarity”. The preface to the catalogue underlines that "in addition to the fact that this is a remarkable collection from a friend of Rops, now deceased (...) well before the artist was understood and even known to the public [he] had guessed what he would one day become, and carefully preserved his early works. Some of these proofs are of the "very first order (...) unique and almost impossible to find." Provenance: Collection of Mr. F. Olin (public sale of June 16, 1890 at A. Bluff, bookseller 10 rue du Gentilhomme in Brussels, first auction of the works of Félicien Rops in Belgium lot n°476 in the catalog (misprint in the catalog and erroneous mention on the label showing lot n°456 as it is a lithograph showing Alfred de Musset). Galerie de Vuyst, Lokeren, public sale of May 17, 2025 lot 54. Galerie Thinus, Schilde Belgium. François Olin (?-1883), mayor of the commune of Virginal from 1879, was one of Rops's first collectors. His collection was distinguished both by its size (800 prints) and its content (mainly lithographs). As a testament to their good understanding, Rops made a point of thanking François Olin, who had "always responded very graciously to my sometimes rather abrupt requests for money" (letter to Edmond Picard, www.ropslettres.be, edition no. 2294). Olin's brothers and sisters, Xavier, Henri, and Adèle, were all versed in art, and the latter also collected Rops's works (letter to Edmond Picard, edition no. 2288).