Although born in Namur, Rops lived most of his life in Paris. He wrote that he had to "escape the respectable world and live in a place of excitement and movement". In 1856 he founded the satirical weekly Uylenspiegel, and this marked the true beginning of his artistic career. Rops’ main works were engravings and illustrations, but in his leisure time he created many beautiful paintings of women and soft landscapes. His major works were very strange, to say the least. He was a lover of the fantastic and the supernatural. Symbolic themes such as the devil, skeletons and death dominated his work. Many demonstrated his belief that women dominated men and the devil dominated women. He was an outspoken champion of artistic freedom. Unfortunately, no photography is allowed inside the museum.

Possibly one of Rops best known pieces is Pornokrates (1858) a naked woman, blindfolded, wearing only black stockings, gloves and shoes, walking on a marble stage, being lead by a pig on a leash with a golden tail against a blue sky with three cherubs hovering above. The symbolism of this painting will boggle your mind.

In 1864, he created a lithography of Funeral in Wallonia, which shows his sensitivity to the suffering of his fellowmen. Although you cannot see the faces of the two main characters, a man and a child, you can feel their sadness.

During the last ten years of his life, Rops suffered with poor eyesight. He lived peacefully at his country home Demi-Lune, just south of Paris, where he pursued his love of flowers and created several new varieties of roses. Felicien Rops died on August 23, 1898, at the age of 65, at his beloved country home, surrounded by loved ones.

The Museum hours are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. daily; closed on Monday except in July and August. Guided tours are possible upon request. You should allow at least one hour to enjoy the interesting and thought provoking works by Felicien Rops.