Rubens, Part One

Classical Synthesis: Prophet of Modern Art

Starting from the wide-ranging and varied works of Peter Paul Rubens, this first part gives an overview of some of the most important periods and influences in the history of western painting. In Italy, where he stayed for eight years as a student, Rubens made antique and Renaissance culture his own. He was also aroused by the new Baroque style, which he brought back to Flanders and gave a typical Flemish character. Rubens is famous for his exuberant nudes. No one has rendered different types of nude better than he did: they are ecstatic, aesthetic and even ethereal. We see each type later in the work of other painters such as Watteau, Fragonard and Delacroix. We also see Rubens at work as a landscape painter, at which point it is easy to step from his work into the pre-Impressionist landscapes of Constable. At the end of the story, which also introduces us to Cubism, Futurism and even the beginnings of film, we recognize in Rubens a painter who brings life in all its variety to the canvas.

© 1998-2008 The Roland Collection & Pira Intl.