“Sunday at Bougival“ is full of lightness. Here, Félicien Rops conjures up the afternoons that he spent at Bougival in the company of Léontine and Aurélie Duluc, two seamstresses who became his companions.

It is often said that “Sunday at Bougival“ – 1874 – depicts the two sisters beside the Seine enjoying the water and the sunshine, while an old man surprises the two women half-dressed.

The voyeur theme is often depicted in Rops with men suddenly appearing at inappropriate moments, intruding upon women’s privacy or seizing a comical situation when the woman is getting dressed, washing or looking at herself.

These scenes are often full of tenderness and humour!

Félicien Rops was a Belgian artist and painter, lithographer, draughtsman, illustrator and engraver.

 

Musée provincial Félicien Rops, Namur.