Félicien Rops was born in Namur, Belgium, in 1833. He showed great interest in drawing while still in school, and during his student years – beginning in 1849 at the Académie des Beaux-Arts Namur, and from 1851 at the Free University in Brussels – he worked as a caricaturist. Rops was primarily interested in printmaking. He taught himself lithography, and from 1858 on worked especially with etching. He also produced title pages and illustrations for books. In 1868 he had a part in the founding of the artists’ association Société des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, which is seen as a pioneer of Belgian Realism. Shortly afterwards the artist moved to Paris, where he set up his own atelier in 1876, attended the Académie Julian and ultimately enjoyed great success as an illustrator. When the Belgian artists’ group Société des Vingt formed in 1883 Rops joined it, promoting new and unconventional art. Rops died in Essonnes, near Paris, in 1898.