Lust for the devil: the erotic-satanic art of Félicien Rops

Abstract

"The first true flowering of Satanism in erotic art came with the Belgian artist Felicien Rops (1833-1898). Rops, who had met Charles Baudelaire in Paris in 1864 and subsequently became a devoted disciple, thereafter commingled elements of death, prostitution and the Satanic in his work, particularly in his 5-picture series Les Sataniques of 1882. Pictures in this series such as The Sacrifice and Calvary are clear and explicit representations of Black Mass and Satanism which still retain their original power to shock and disturb. These images, as well as the others in Les Sataniques, can be found in LUST FOR THE DEVIL, which collects around 80 of Rops' most outlandish and confrontational works, including a section of 30 colour plates. Also to be found here are images of death and corporeal dissolution, ranging from The Death Penalty to The Dancing Corpse; images of prostitution and addiction, such as The Absinthe Drinker and Human Trash; and numerous examples of Rops' book illustrations, reproduced in editions of decadence and diabolism that include Paul Verlaine, Joséphin Péladan, and Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly's Les Diaboliques ..."--Publisher description.

Contents

Foreword: Satanic erotica / by Candice Black -- Essay: instrumentum diaboli / by Joris-Karl Huysmans -- Felicien Rops: selected graphic work -- Felicien Rops: selected works in colour.