Bidspirit auction | ROPS FELICIEN: (1833-1898) ´ I

ROPS FELICIEN: (1833-1898) ´ I nearly gave up on everything and never painted again in my life´ - ROPS FELICIEN: (1833-1898) Belgian artist. A.L.S., Felicien Rops , one page, 8vo, n.p., n.d. (1876) to Alphonse Lemerre ( ´Mon Cher Editeur´ ), in French. Rops informs his correspondent that he will be returning to Paris for business, remarking ´Depuis que je vous ai écrit la série de mes ennuis s´est complétée. Mon fils, qui malheureusement est un ”fils unique”, a été gravement malade. Il a fallu le veiller &c &c. Enfin rien ne m´a manqué´ (Translation: ´Since I last wrote to you, my string of troubles has come to an end. My son, who is unfortunately an ‘only child’, has been seriously ill. I had to watch over him, and so on and so forth. In short, I’ve had my hands full´ ) and admitting ´J´ai été pris d´un tel découragement que j´ai failli tout envoyer au bon Dieu & ne plus faire de peinture de ma vie´ (Translation: ´I was overcome by such despondency that I nearly gave up on everything and never painted again in my life´ ). Rops also states that ´Ma première visite sera pour vous, mon cher Lemerre, car je garde une profonde & réelle reconnaissance de votre conduite envers moi dans les circonstances difficiles que je viens de traverser´ (Translation: ´My first visit will be to you, my dear Lemerre, for I remain deeply and truly grateful for your conduct towards me during the difficult circumstances I have just been through´ ) and in a postscript adds ´Je compte exposer à l´exposition de 1877 les dessins de Musset si vous n´y voyez pas d´inconvénient´ (Translation: ´I intend to exhibit the Musset drawings at the 1877 exhibition if you have no objection´ ). With blank integral leaf. Some extensive areas of paper loss and wormholes to the upper right corner and margin, only very slightly affecting the salutation. G Alphonse Lemerre (1838-1912) French editor and publisher, known especially for having been the first to publish many of the Parnassian poets.