Rubens

by Gilles Néret

Extravagance and sensuality Renowned among his contemporaries as one of the foremost painters of his era, Flemish baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) practically revolutionized northern European art. A shrewd businessman, international ambassador, passionate scholar, devout Catholic, and loving family man, Rubens—fluent in six languages, no less—cared about nothing more than painting, and thus devoted his life to it. Combining typical Flemish realism with classical themes influenced by the Renaissance, Rubens caught the attention of all of Europe and helped put his native Antwerp on the map. His very profitable workshop of accomplished artists, one of whom was Van Dyck, completed over 2000 works under his supervision.
About the
Each book in TASCHEN’s Basic Art series

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, History

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Gilles Néret (1933 - August 3, 2005) was a French art critic and historian, journalist and curator. He wrote extensively on the history of erotica.

He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L’Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Since 1992, Néret was an editor for Taschen, for which he has written catalogues raisonnés of the works of Klimt and others, as well as the author of Erotica Universalis.

Reviews

[Kalliope · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to think that these series on art and artists by Taschen were of not great value – picture books at best. But more recently I learnt that I was deeply mistaken. They tend to be excellent introductions to the subject in their title. The authors are good choices. Unfortunately I have learnt this somewhat late since Taschen plans to discontinue them and they are going out of print.

Imagine then how glad I was when I found this volume in my parents’ storage.

Néret succeeds in giving us an overview of the fascinating life of Peter Paul Rubens, the Flemish who preferred to speak Italian rather than any of the several other languages he commanded. There is melodrama in his family. His father was convicted and had to flee because he was the lover of Anne of Saxony, the wife of none other than William of Orange, unsurprisingly known as The Taciturn.

Otherwise he was born under favouring stars. He became a favourite at courts, starting with that of Mantua, but including the Catholic Governors of the Lower Netherlands, the French Queen, the English King who would lose his head, and the Spanish King who became almost obsessed with his paintings.



Néret is excellent in making us appreciate the energy that emanated from this man. In politics Rubens zoomed about Europe, earnestly, exercising his diplomatic skills trying to prevent or halt a nasty and lengthy war. As a pacifist however, he was not as successful as he would have liked but at least he did represent, dramatically, the consequences of war.



His way of working was multi-task. While at his brushes he would dictate letters and also listen to Tacitus being read to him. And as his clients never tired of commissioning more and more works, he also commanded a large and very effective workshop, which he orchestrated in full command.



And his paintings, well, his paintings, are overwhelming in dynamism, in forcefulness, in sensuality, in movement, in materials, in characters and animals, in drama, in colours and textures, in lights and shadows, in literary and erudite references, in themes, in technical displays...



His imagination was overpowering for no one has equalled him in his gift for staging dramatic and triumphal and emotional scenes; and his forcefulness is all the more effective because he avoids solemnity. His ability to confront opposites provides a shocking power, which however remains counterbalanced. No wonder he intimidated his successors.



This book also provides a clear development of Rubens’ style, in particular the way his brushstroke became less tight and defining and more loose and expressive, as well as how his choice of subjects, and their treatment, became more and more intimate as time passed.



The book is therefore a little jewel. Exceedingly well illustrated, in choice of images, their quality and the way they relate to the text and the lay out of the pages, it was offered also for a low price.

I just wish Taschen would not stop producing these.

[Hagar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rubens may not have the spiritual gravitas of Titian or Giotto, the gnawing darkness of Goya, the strange modernity of Viennese Klimt and Schiele or even the dynamic realism of Courbet (all top faves of mine). But unsurprisingly, I still think he holds the most treasured position in my personal art canon. Dripping with sensuality, big, colourful, plump, all too much. The sheer excess in scale and emotion. he's SO fun. Makes sense he was an inspiration for many Baroque and later Rococo artists, which are periods I love.

[Robyn Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

"All that pink flesh, all those buxom nudes."
This is the opening line of this book. An honest and irreverent personal summation.
"Pretexts for a proliferation of female convexivity."
This has to be the quote of the year.
I enjoyed it and learned quite a lot.
Another one read in preparation for my Rubens pilgrimage.

[Γιώργος Μπελαούρης · Rating 5 out of 5]

such beauty makes your eyes moist
a beautiful edition
very insightfull
gilles is a great contributor to this series , his books are amazing

[Servabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The exuberance of his style makes him the King of Baroque (^O^)

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es ist wirklich schade, dass dieses Buch in der Zwischenzeit vergriffen ist. Natürlich sind es eigentlich die Bilder Rubens', die hier im Mittelpunkt stehen sollten - und insofern ist auch der Umstand, dass sie nicht mehr in dieser Taschen-Serie zu erwerben sind nur halb so schlimm.

Seine Werke sind von atemberaubender Fülle. Aber das ist nichts Neues. Was mich an Rubens fasziniert ist der Umstand, dass nahezu alle seiner Bilder (abgesehen von jenen, die Auftragsportraits oder sakraler Natur waren) ein unglaublich anregendes Element besitzen. Ich könnte noch nicht einmal genau sagen was an ihnen so erfrischend auf mich wirkt. Freilich, die Dramatik des Licht- und Schattenspiels ist ein wichtiger Faktor; in Farbe, Form und Botschaft gleichermaßen. Aber das allein ist es wohl auch nicht.

Mit Gilles Néret hat sich Taschen einen Autor gesucht, der in wenigen Worten einen Umriss des Lebens Rubens' geschaffen hat. Und zwar einen, der dieser Serie mehr als nur gerecht wird. Mehr über das Leben des Malers hätte mich nämlich tatsächlich nicht interessiert, weniger wäre wohl auch nicht gut gewesen. Alles in allem wiederhole ich gerne noch einmal, was ich eingangs gesagt habe: Es ist schade, dass das Buch vergriffen ist.

Was ich übrigens feststellen durfte, während ich die Bilder betrachtet habe, ist allenfalls eine Randnotiz: Ich finde, dass Rubens' nur in einem Punkt versagt hat. Ich kenne kein Gemälde (des Meisters), in dem die weibliche Brust natürlich wirkt. Er scheint außerdem nur eine einzige Form gekannt oder gemocht zu haben, denn in diesem Detail (und es ist ja nicht so, dass es ein seltenes gewesen wäre...) weißt er eine merkwürdige Einseitigkeit auf. So. Jetzt hab' ich das auch einmal gesagt. ;)

[Yoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Very Good Introduction to the Novice

Any review of this book would have to start out by pointing out that it is part of Taschen Publishing’s “Basic Art” series. As such it is relatively short, at only 96 pages. Hence if one is looking for a lengthy academic all-encompassing treaty on the subject, this is not it.

Having said that, it is a very good introduction to the subject for the novice. The prints, the real stars of the show, are very good in that they capture the paintings very well. They are not quite the quality of museum monogram quality but, then again, this book goes for only about $20 instead of an $80-$120 range. For that price, Taschen Basic Art books are unrivaled. In addition, the selection of Ruben’s paintings is quite good. This, alone, is quite an accomplishment considering that there are hundreds of still existing and known paintings by Ruben (he painted 1,600 during his lifetime). This is unlike Vermeer, Hieronymus Bosch or Bruegel the Elder (who each have in the vicinity of around 30-40 known still existing paintings to their names).

In addition, the book provides a decent biography of his life and how it influenced his art along with little known facts about the subject (i.e., he was, as well as being a top notch painter, a diplomat, renaissance man and knew almost have a dozen languages). More importantly, the book provides valuable insights into his “style”. For example, many of his paintings were conducted collaboratively with other well-known painters who specialized in topics that complemented his (i.e., artists who specialized in painting the animals in his paintings, etc.). This is a little known fact.

All and all a very good introduction to the topic, especially for the newbie.

[Humfreak · Rating 4 out of 5]

unexpected little gem,
quite a lot of information on the life and work of PPR.

despite its size it contains quite a few nice colour pictures of the mans work and art.
good for a few hours of reading, enjoyed it.

[?0?0?0 · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I needed any more reminding of Ruben's skills, or needed more of a push to delve into his work again more, this volume is wonderful.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very simple book with some absolutely fascinating artworks.
Dare I say, I knew a lot of the paintings but did not realise they were Rubens.

[JuanLuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

💕💕💕

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I like Baroque art