Standing man with beer mugs 1833 - 1898

Felicien Rops made this drawing, Standing Man with Beer Mugs, with graphite on paper. Rops was a Belgian artist working in the latter half of the 19th century who made a name for himself with his symbolist and often erotic prints. The image shows a man holding beer mugs in what appears to be a bar or tavern. The loose sketch-like quality and somewhat coarse subject matter are typical of Rops's interest in representing modern urban life, and perhaps critiquing bourgeois values through his focus on everyday scenes. In Belgium at the time, there was a tension between traditional values and the rapidly modernizing cities, with their attendant social changes. Images like this one, showing working-class life, could be seen as a challenge to the art establishment, which was typically focused on more elevated subjects. To understand the context fully, scholars might look at period writings about urban life and class, as well as the exhibition histories of Rops's work. Art provides a unique window into the social conditions of its time, but its meaning is always contingent on the historical context in which it was created and viewed.