Rubens in private
dal 27/3/2015 al 27/6/2015
Segnalato da
27/3/2015
Rubens in private
The Rubens House, Antwerp
The master portrays his family. The exhibition includes some 50 paintings and drawings from top-ranking museums. A new work has been added to the oeuvre of Peter Paul Rubens: a portrait of his eldest daughter Clara Serena.
In the spring of 2015, a unique exhibition will be held on Peter Paul Rubens the portrait painter. Even though Rubens is said to have disliked painting portraits with a passion, and painting portraits was not highly regarded in art theory either, Rubens is one of best portraitists of his time.
His finest and most intimate portraits are undoubtedly those of his relatives: both his wives – Isabella who died young and beautiful Helena –, his children, along with his sisters and brothers in law. And of course, the master also indulged in self-portraits.
These works were not commissioned but were a labour of love and served as keepsakes. For the first time, these amazing works are exhibited together, and not least at a place where they belong: Rubens’ former home in Antwerp.
The exhibition is curated by international Rubens experts and includes some 50 paintings and drawings from top-ranking museums, including the Uffizi in Florence, the British Museum in London, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Hermitage in St Petersburg and the collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, and the Royal Collection, generously loaned by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
A new work has been added to the oeuvre of Peter Paul Rubens – a portrait of his eldest daughter Clara Serena. The painting will be presented for the first time as a work by the hand of Rubens during the ‘Rubens in private’ exhibition.
In 2013, the Metropolitan Museum in New York sold a small portrait of a young girl through Sotheby’s, which was initially attributed to one of Peter Paul Rubens’ disciples. Experts disagreed on who might have been the original artist, and who the girl in the portrait may be.
In view of the ‘Rubens in private’ exhibition, the painting has been closely examined, with astonishing results. Dendrochronological and stylistic examination of the painting has found that it can indeed be attributed to Peter Paul Rubens himself. The painting will be presented for the first time as a work by the hand of Rubens during the ‘Rubens in private’ exhibition.
Peter Paul Rubens and Antwerp. The master and his city. The two go hand in hand, and after more than 400 years, the presence of this world famous painter can still be felt in many places around the city.
Thousands of visitors come to this city on the Scheldt just because of him. In the lively city centre, you can see a number of Rubens’ most celebrated works, with some of them still in the original location he intended when he created them!
Rubens lived almost his entire life in Antwerp and made an active contribution to an extended cultural blossoming of the city. Religious problems, along with the recapture of the Southern Netherlands by Catholic Spain, led to the closure of the Scheldt in 1585 and the end of the Dutch Golden Age. Rubens transformed this ending into a new beginning. Thanks to the role played by this master of the Flemish Baroque as a painter, diplomat, graphic artist, designer, collector, teacher and source of inspiration, Antwerp continues to bask in the light of Rubens’ genius to this day.
Nowhere else can one experience Rubens so profoundly as in his hometown, the city where he is also buried. In your search for this genius you will enter some of Antwerp’s most beautiful monuments and experience the Antwerp of today - a melting pot of creative talent.
Image: Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of a Young Girl, possibly Clara Serena Rubens, oil on panel, 35.6 x 26 cm
Press and communication:
Nadia De Vree tel +32 475367196 nadia.devree@stad.antwerpen.be
The Rubens House
Wapper 9-11 - 2000 Antwerpen
Closed on Monday, 1 May (Labour Day) and 14 May (Ascension)
Admission fees: € 10 / € 8 / free