: "Drawn By the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens" explores
the central role that oil sketches played in Ruben's creative
process and his successful career, and is the first exhibition in
this country devoted exclusively to the oil sketches.
The national tour premieres at the Bruce Museum of Arts and
Science October 2 through January 30, then travels to the
University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film
Archive, Berkeley, Calif., February to April and concludes at the
Cincinnati (Ohio) Art Museum, May to August.
Rubens (1577-1640) was one of the most gifted, versatile and
influential painters in all of art history. Eulogized at his
death as the most learned artist who ever lived, he had a
seemingly infinite capacity for inventive subjects and designs, a
vast repertoire of figural poses and a sparkling palette.
Contrary to the popular modern stereotype of artists as
irascible, unsocialized creatures living in garrets, Rubens was
also blessed with legendary personal charm, early revealing a
gift for diplomacy and keen business acumen. He was surrounded by
and in constant communication with admiring friends and, to all
appearances, enjoyed a delightful home life. He was the confident
of kings and princes who besieged him with commissions from
across Europe, through which he earned all sorts of honors and
amassed a sizable personal fortune, enabling him to retire as a
nobleman to his own castle at the end of his life. Rubens'
astonishing success was the wonder of his international peers and
an example to be emulated by no less an admirer than Rembrandt.
"Drawn By the Brush" examines how the sketches enabled Rubens to
marshal and orchestrate the efforts of a sizable studio, the
members of which often assisted in the creation of his vast
decorative cycles, tapestry series and towering altarpieces.
While the final works of art sometimes betray the labor of the
assistants' execution, covering acres of canvas on deadline, the
sketches have a freshness and vitality that utterly beguiles the
viewer. They were prized by collectors even during Rubens' own
lifetime as original works of art, indisputably by the master.
Rubens' oil sketches not only show the undiluted essence of his
intellect and spirit, but also come closer to the electrifying
instant of creativity than virtually any other work of art by an
Old Master. Jealously guarded by the master as the embodiment of
his creative capital, Rubens even left instructions to safely
lock the sketches away from prying eyes when he was out of town.
The exhibition surveys the development of Rubens' use of the oil
sketch and offers examples from most of the large decorative
programs on which he worked. The sketches vary in their degree of
finish, from a few fluid strokes on a small panel to larger, more
carefully refined works to be used as presentation pieces for a
potential patron. Yet all are united by their function as
preparatory works for other, final works of art, not necessarily
in the same medium. Some were to be translated into prints,
sculpture or tapestry designers for weavers, while other sketches
were executed from live models and kept on hand in the studio as
a visual resource to be consulted in completing larger
compositions.
An illustrated, 280-page catalog, distributed by Yale University
Press, is written by the Bruce Museum's executive director Peter
C. Sutton; Marjorie E. Wieseman, curator of European painting and
sculpture at the Cincinnati Art Museum; and Nico van Hout,
paintings conservator at the Koninklijk Museum in Antwerp. In
addition, an interactive website devoted to the exhibition will
be linked to the institutional websites for each of the three
venues.
"Drawn By the Brush: Oil Sketches by Peter Paul Rubens" has been
organized by the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science; the Cincinnati
Art Museum; and the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum
and Pacific Film Archive, in Berkeley, Calif.
Admission to the exhibit at the Bruce Museum is $15. The museum
is at 1 Museum Drive and is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm;
Sunday, 1 to 5 pm and closed Mondays.
For information, 203-869-0376 or brucemuseum.org.
