Félicien Rops
Hello there! Do you remember our partnership with Europeana from the last month? This is a small continuation. If you happen to be in Brussels between April 21 and April 23 you can explore the virtual reality event #BigArtRide. It is touring nine cities, celebrating the Dutch Presidency of the EU, and as part of the #Europeana280 campaign giving people across Europe the chance to take a virtual journey together. It will bring together two participants in different cities, (one in Amsterdam, one elsewhere), invite them to get on their bikes, put on virtual reality ‘Oculus Rift’ headsets, and navigate through a virtual city experiencing centuries of Europe’s art along the way.
Enjoy!
"My Pornocratie is complete. This drawing delights me. I would like to show you this beautiful naked girl, clad only in black shoes and gloves in silk, leather, and velvet, her hair styled. Wearing a blindfold, she walks on a marble stage, guided by a pig with a "golden tail" across a blue sky. Three loves - ancient loves - vanish in tears (...) I did this in four days in a room of blue satin, in an overheated apartment, full of different smells, where the opopanax and cyclamen gave me a slight fever conducive towards production or even towards reproduction". Letter from Rops to his friend, Belgian writer Henry Liesse, 1879.
Pornokrates is the most famous work of Félicien Rops. The Greek ‘pornocrates’ and the neologism ‘pornocracy ' refer to a social situation, where the courtesans, through an influence on policy makers, had an impact on politics. Rops adhered to this historical tradition and painted the Pornokrates’ appearance as a modern woman reigning with her sex-appeal. The painting depicts a blindfolded woman wearing only mittens, panties and a blue ribbon. She’s being led by a pig, suggesting that she’s guided by sexual passion and her instincts. She walks above the three old Arts. The pig with the golden tail might be interpreted as the image of luxury and lucre, steering the woman. Or it might be seen as a depiction of a man, bestial and stupid, who is kept in check by the woman.