Middle-Class n.d.

Felicien Rops made this print, “Middle-Class,” using etching, a process involving acid to cut lines into a metal plate, which is then inked and printed. It’s a traditional technique, but Rops was very interested in modern subject matter. The blurry, somewhat degraded quality of the print enhances its critical message. You get the sense of a woman available for hire. A modern woman, whose portrait has been rapidly reproduced through mechanical means, perhaps even against her will. The linear emphasis of etching allows for the depiction of fine details but also, in the way Rops has handled it, a certain dissolution of form. It's clear that the woman is well-dressed and made up, yet she seems to be fading into the background. Rops used his skill as a printmaker to engage in social commentary, asking what is happening to individuals within the rapidly changing economies of the late 19th century. The print isn’t just a picture, it's a statement about labor, class, and the mass production of images.