The Belgian printmaker and painter Félicien Rops (1833-1898) was at the height of his career when Bourdelle moved to Paris in 1885. Like Rodin (who had taken a close interest in the groups drawn by Rops when working on the Gates of Hell), Bourdelle turned his sculptural eye to the “Satanic” etchings. This study sheet shows the aerial movement of The Removal (1882) (one of the prints in the series) but Bourdelle reverses the point of view and replaces the female figure with a man who is damned. This is a clear move away from Rops’ erotic devilry.
Lili Davenas
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