Profile of a woman, charcoal and stump drawing, signed A. Rassenfosse and dated 1894 in the lower right corner.
Born in Liège in 1862, Armand Rassenfosse was a major figure in Belgian art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Largely self-taught, he enjoyed great success as an engraver, poster artist, and illustrator, notably for his illustrations of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal.
Initially destined to take over his father's art and decoration business, he embarked on an artistic career after his decisive encounter with Félicien Rops in Paris in 1886. The young Rassenfosse was an admirer of the Namur master, and his mentor's encouragement quickly led to extensive correspondence between the two artists. Their exchanges focused in particular on the technical subtleties of engraving, and they developed a completely innovative process, known as Ropsenfosse, which allowed for highly successful imitation of drawings.
The drawing we present here, dated 1894, was produced at a turning point in Rassenfosse's life. Rops was increasingly debilitated by his illness and died four years later (Rassenfosse was named his executor), while Rassenfosse was no longer a self-taught amateur but already a promising artist. He produced the illustrations for Les Fleurs du Mal, considered his masterpiece, in 1899. We are therefore looking at a captivating drawing in the life of the Liège artist, a moment of affirmation and consolidation, where this determination can be felt in the attitude of this brilliantly executed model, but we can also see Rops' legacy in the lines and drawing style of the young Rassenfosse.
Frame dimensions: 47x47.5cm
