Rubens's Lot and His Daughters Achieves

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Rubens's Lot and His Daughters Achieves RUBENS’S LOT AND HIS DAUGHTERS ACHIEVES £44,882,500 /$58,167,720 /€52,422,760 HIGHEST PRICE EVER ACHIEVED FOR OLD MASTER PAINTING AT CHRISTIE’S London – Peter Paul Rubens’s Lot and his Daughters (circa 1613-14) achieved £44,882,500 /$58,167,720 /€52,422,760, the highest price ever achieved for an Old Master painting at Christie's this evening (7 July). The work sold to a collector on the phone in Christie’s Old Master and British Paintings Evening Sale, part of Classic Week in London, after a bidding battle lasting fourteen minutes with four bidders involved. One of the most important paintings by the artist to have remained in private hands, it is an outstanding example of Rubens’s early maturity. “The sale of this significant painting demonstrates that Christie’s continues to lead the masterpiece market at auction and in this field. A stunning work of psychological complexity, Lot and his Daughters was created at a time when Rubens’s reputation as the most renowned artists in Antwerp had already placed him firmly at the centre of the European artistic stage.” Paul Raison, Deputy Chairman, Old Master Pictures Lot and his Daughters boasts a distinguished provenance, once forming part of the collections of wealthy Antwerp merchants; a Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands; Joseph I Holy Roman Emperor; and the Dukes of Marlborough where it hung in Blenheim Palace and was sold in its original Blenheim frame. Lot and his Daughters is a cautionary story, which Rubens returned to throughout his career. Pulsating with life, this biblical canvas illustrates the events after Lot and his family have fled the immoral city of Sodom having escaped to the desolate mountain town of Zoar. This is the second highest price ever paid for an Old Master painting at auction, the record also being held by Rubens whose The Massacre of the Innocents sold for £49,506,648 at auction in 2002. Christie's Classic Art Weeks continue - for further information visit www.christies.com/classicweek #christies250 Five Things You Might Like to Know About Peter Paul Rubens 1. Born in Siegen, Nassau-Dillenburg (now North Rhine Westphalia, Germany), his father was the legal advisor as well as the lover and father of a child born to Anna of Saxony, the second wife of William I of Orange. 2. Italy had a big impact on the young artist: in 1600 Rubens first visited Venice where he was able to see works by Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese. The compositions and palette were very influential and this can be seen in later works such as Lot and his Daughters. 3. He was a diplomat as well as an artist: while living in Italy with the Duke of Vincenzo I Gonzaga he made his first diplomatic mission to Spain. He would continue to combine diplomacy and art throughout his life. 4. Peter Paul Rubens also dabbled in architecture: In 1609 he married Isabella Brant, daughter of a leading Antwerp humanist and in 1610 he built a new house with a studio attached that he had designed himself. 5. One of Rubens’s most famous pupils was the leading Flemish portrait artist Anthony van Dyke. .
Recommended publications
  • 'Rubens and His Legacy' Exhibition in Focus Guide
    Exhibition in Focus This guide is given out free to teachers and full-time students with an exhibition ticket and ID at the Learning Desk and is available to other visitors from the RA Shop at a cost of £5.50 (while stocks last). ‘Rubens I mention in this place, as I think him a remarkable instance of the same An Introduction to the Exhibition mind being seen in all the various parts of the art. […] [T]he facility with which he invented, the richness of his composition, the luxuriant harmony and brilliancy for Teachers and Students of his colouring, so dazzle the eye, that whilst his works continue before us we cannot help thinking that all his deficiencies are fully supplied.’ Sir Joshua Reynolds, Discourse V, 10 December 1772 Introduction Written by Francesca Herrick During his lifetime, the Flemish master Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) For the Learning Department was the most celebrated artist in Europe and could count the English, French © Royal Academy of Arts and Spanish monarchies among his prestigious patrons. Hailed as ‘the prince of painters and painter of princes’, he was also a skilled diplomat, a highly knowledgeable art collector and a canny businessman. Few artists have managed to make such a powerful impact on both their contemporaries and on successive generations, and this exhibition seeks to demonstrate that his Rubens and His Legacy: Van Dyck to Cézanne continued influence has had much to do with the richness of his repertoire. Its Main Galleries themes of poetry, elegance, power, compassion, violence and lust highlight the 24 January – 10 April 2015 diversity of Rubens’s remarkable range and also reflect the main topics that have fired the imagination of his successors over the past four centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • The Spell of Belgium
    The Spell of Belgium By Isabel Anderson THE SPELL OF BELGIUM CHAPTER I THE NEW POST THE winter which I spent in Belgium proved a unique niche in my experience, for it showed me the daily life and characteristics of a people of an old civilization as I could never have known them from casual meetings in the course of ordinary travel. My husband first heard of his nomination as Minister to Belgium over the telephone. We were at Beverly, which was the summer capital that year, when he was told that his name was on the list sent from Washington. Although he had been talked of for the position, still in a way his appointment came as a surprise, and a very pleasant one, too, for we had been assured that “Little Paris” was an attractive post, and that Belgium was especially interesting to diplomats on account of its being the cockpit of Europe. After receiving this first notification, L. called at the “Summer White House” in Beverly, and later went to Washington for instructions. It was not long before we were on our way to the new post. Through a cousin of my husband’s who had married a Belgian, the Comte de Buisseret, we were able to secure a very nice house in Brussels, the Palais d’Assche. As it was being done over by the owners, I remained in Paris during the autumn, waiting until the work should be finished. My husband, of course, went directly to Brussels, and through his letters I was able to gain some idea of what our life there was to be.
    [Show full text]
  • The Entombment, Peter Paul Rubens
    J. Paul Getty Museum Education Department Who's Afraid of Contemporary Art? Information and Questions for Teaching The Entombment, Peter Paul Rubens The Entombment Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, about 1612 Oil on canvas 51 5/8 x 51 1/4 in. 93.PA.9 Questions for Teaching Look at each character in this painting. Pay particular attention to the pose of the bodies, the facial expressions, and hand gestures. How does the body language of each figure communicate emotion and contribute to the narrative of the story? What do the background details tell you about the story? (In this case, the background details help to locate the story: the rock walls behind the figures, and the stone slab that supports Christ’s corpse show the event is taking place inside Christ’s tomb. Rubens crops the image closely, forcing the viewer to really focus on the emotion of the characters and the violence done to the body of Christ.) What characteristics of this 17th-century painting are similar to contemporary artist Bill Viola’s video installation Emergence (see images of the work in this curriculum’s Image Bank)? What characteristics of the two artworks are different? Peter Paul Rubens made this painting for an altarpiece inside a Catholic chapel. It was intended to serve as a meditational device—to focus the viewer’s attention on the suffering of Christ and inspire devotion. Pretend that you are not familiar with the religious story depicted in the painting. What kinds of emotional responses do you have to this work of art? What visual elements of the painting make you feel this way? Which artwork do you think conveys emotions better, Bill Viola’s Emergence or Peter Paul Rubens’s The Entombment? How does the medium of the artwork—painting or video—affect your opinion? Background Information In this painting, Peter Paul Rubens depicted the moment after his Crucifixion, when Christ is placed into the tomb before his Resurrection.
    [Show full text]
  • The Drawing Ezine
    Drawing Workshops Portrait Drawing Painting for Beginners Workshops Workshops THE DRAWING EZINE How to Draw the Portrait in Conte The visual language of drawing has evolved tremen- dously over the past few centuries. An almost magi- cal trick happens within our cerebrum when we view a flat surface on which marks have been inscribed. Look- ing at a portrait drawing – particularly a master draw- ing of exquisite lines and tones – we immediately see past the markings of chalk and engage in a visual and emotional dialogue. The more masterful the drawing the more we engage it. This, too, is also the brutal reality of portrait drawing. If the threshhold of plausibility, namely, does the draw- ing read accurately, is not met then our work is readily dismissed. Additionally the spirit of a drawing, it’s emo- tional pull, is critically important. I am thinking of the portrait drawings of van Gogh when I say this. Con- versely, a technically accurate rendering alone will not make a drawing a ‘success’. The saccherine works Peter Paul Rubens, Isabella Brant, of William-Adolphe Bougeureau (1825-1905) come to A Portrait Drawing, 1621 mind. © 1998-2013. All rights reserved. William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Vincent van Gogh, Drawing of a Woman Self-Portrait In the late 19th Century Bougeureau was considered the greatest painter of his time – his paintings commanded astounding prices and he was a much sought after guest at high society galas while up on the hill in Montmartre artists such as van Gogh and Modigliani huddled over cold cups of coffee for their sustenance.
    [Show full text]
  • Rubens Was Artist, Scholar, Diplomat--And a Lover of Life
    RUBENS WAS ARTIST, SCHOLAR, DIPLOMAT--AND A LOVER OF LIFE An exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts shows that this Flemish genius truly lived in the right place at the right time by Henry Adams Smithsonian, October, 1993 Of all the great European Old Masters, Rubens has always been the most difficult and puzzling for Americans. Thomas Eakins, the famed American portraitist, once wrote that Rubens' paintings should be burned. Somewhat less viciously, Ernest Hemingway made fun of his fleshy nudes—which have given rise to the adjective "Rubenesque"—in a passage of his novel A Farewell to Arms. Here, two lovers attempt to cross from Italy into Switzerland in the guise of connoisseurs of art. While preparing for their assumed role, they engage in the following exchange: "'Do you know anything about art?' "'Rubens,' said Catherine. "'Large and fat,' I said." Part of the difficulty, it is clear, lies in the American temperament. Historically, we have preferred restraint to exuberance, been uncomfortable with nudes, and admired women who are skinny and twiglike rather than abundant and mature. Moreover, we Americans like art to express private, intensely personal messages, albeit sometimes strange ones, whereas Rubens orchestrated grand public statements, supervised a large workshop and absorbed the efforts of teams of helpers into his own expression. In short, Rubens can appear too excessive, too boisterous and too commercial. In addition, real barriers of culture and At the age of 53, a newly married Rubens celebrated by painting the joyous, nine-foot- background block appreciation. Rubens wide Garden of Love.
    [Show full text]
  • Engraved Gems
    & Baan (eds) & Baan Bercken den Van ENGRAVED GEMS Many are no larger than a fingertip. They are engraved with symbols, magic spells and images of gods, animals and emperors. These stones were used for various purposes. The earliest ones served as seals for making impressions in soft materials. Later engraved gems were worn or carried as personal ornaments – usually rings, but sometimes talismans or amulets. The exquisite engraved designs were thought to imbue the gems with special powers. For example, the gods and rituals depicted on cylinder seals from Mesopotamia were thought to protect property and to lend force to agreements marked with the seals. This edited volume discusses some of the finest and most exceptional GEMS ENGRAVED precious and semi-precious stones from the collection of the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities – more than 5.800 engraved gems from the ancient Near East, Egypt, the classical world, renaissance and 17th- 20th centuries – and other special collections throughout Europe. Meet the people behind engraved gems: gem engravers, the people that used the gems, the people that re-used them and above all the gem collectors. This is the first major publication on engraved gems in the collection of the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden since 1978. ENGRAVED GEMS From antiquity to the present edited by B.J.L. van den Bercken & V.C.P. Baan 14 ISBNSidestone 978-90-8890-505-6 Press Sidestone ISBN: 978-90-8890-505-6 PAPERS ON ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE LEIDEN MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES 9 789088 905056 PALMA 14 This is an Open Access publication.
    [Show full text]
  • Thirty Years
    THE 30 YEARS WAR HSTEU302 Electors of the Holy Roman Empire Illuminated Manuscript Left column: Prince Bishops (with miter & sword) Europe around 1600 Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation: 300 separate principalities, plus 65 Free Imperial Cities (Reichstadt) & 2,000 Free Imperial Knights (Riechsritter) Hapsburg family territories, connected by road from Austria to the Netherlands GERMANY DURING THE 30 YEARS WAR Population losses in Germany 30 Years War 1618-1648 Etchings as early war reporting in 30 Years’ War Jacques Callot Conquest of a town Jacques Callot, The Miseries of War 1633 Jacques Callot Camp followers MARS and VENUS IMAGES OF WAR AND PEACE IN 17TH CENTURY PAINTING Theodore Rabb, The Struggle for Stability in Early Modern Europe Traces changes in depiction of war and warriors from 16th to 17th C in major artists, Titian, Rubens, Velasquez: Heroic images of leaders on horseback gradually replaced with more symbolic images, such as Mars & Venus, indicating 17th C. exhaustion with warfare especially due to 30 Years’ War and English Civil War. Hapsburg Emperor Charles V (reign 1519-1555) Also King Carlos I of Spain, ruler of Austria & Spanish Netherlands 1547 Titian Philip II of Spain Son of Charles V Titian Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640 Flemish Baroque painter Heroic military figures followed later by symbolic scenes of Mars and Venus (god of war versus goddess of love) Rubens Emperor Maximilian I Father of Charles V Peter Paul Rubens 1577-1640 Flemish Catholic Baroque painter Duke of Lerma (Spain) 1603 Duke of Buckhingham (England)
    [Show full text]
  • Prints That Were Initially Produced and Printed There.[16]
    Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen 1577 – 1640 Antwerp) How to cite Bakker, Piet. “Peter Paul Rubens” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 3rd ed. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Lara Yeager-Crasselt. New York, 2020–. https://theleidencollection.com/artists/peter-paul- rubens/ (accessed September 27, 2021). A PDF of every version of this biography is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive is managed by a permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative occurs. © 2021 The Leiden Collection Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Peter Paul Rubens Page 2 of 7 Peter Paul Rubens was born in Siegen, Germany, on 28 June 1577. His parents were the lawyer Jan Rubens (1530–87) and Maria Pijpelincx (1538–1608).[1] Jan had also been an alderman of Antwerp, but fearing reprisal for his religious tolerance during the Beeldenstorm (Iconoclastic Fury), he fled in 1568 and took refuge with his family in Cologne. There he was the personal secretary of William I of Orange’s (1533–84) consort, Anna of Saxony (1544–77), with whom he had an affair. When the liaison came to light, Jan was banished to prison for some years. Shortly after his death in 1587, his widow returned with her children to Antwerp. Rubens’s study at the Latin school in Antwerp laid the foundations for his later status as a pictor doctus, an educated humanist artist who displayed his erudition not with a pen, but with a paintbrush. He derived his understanding of classical antiquity and literature in part from the ideas of Justus Lipsius (1547–1606), an influential Dutch philologist and humanist.[2] Lipsius’s Christian interpretation of stoicism was a particularly significant source of inspiration for the artist.[3] Rubens’s older brother Filips (1574–1611) had heard Lipsius lecture in Leuven and was part of his circle of friends, as was Peter Paul, who continued to correspond with one another even after the scholar’s death.
    [Show full text]
  • Mines of Misinformation: George Eliot and Old Master Paintings: Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Dresden, 1854-5 and 1858 Leonee Ormond
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln The George Eliot Review English, Department of 2002 Mines of Misinformation: George Eliot and Old Master Paintings: Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Dresden, 1854-5 and 1858 Leonee Ormond Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ger Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, Literature in English, British Isles Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Ormond, Leonee, "Mines of Misinformation: George Eliot and Old Master Paintings: Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Dresden, 1854-5 and 1858" (2002). The George Eliot Review. 438. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/ger/438 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the English, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in The George Eliot Review by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. MINES OF MISINFORMATION: GEORGE ELIOT AND OLD MA~TER PAINTINGS: BERLIN, MUNICH, VIENNA AND DRESDEN, 1854-5 AND 1858. By Leonee Onnond This article is a 'footnote' to two classic works on George Eliot: Hugh Witemeyer's George Eliot and the Visual Arts and The Journals of George Eliot, edited by Margaret Harris and Judith Johnston. When I began to follow the progress of George Eliot and George Henry Lewes round the major art galleries of Western Europe, I soon discovered that many of the paintings which George Eliot mentions in her journal were not what she believed them to be. Some have been reattributed since her lifetime, and others, while still bearing the name of the artist she gave them, were not of the subjects she supposed.
    [Show full text]
  • October 17, 2017 – January 21, 2018 Rubens the Power Of
    OCTOBER 17, 2017 – RUBENS JANUARY 21, 2018 THE POWER OF TRANSFORMATION Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) was a star during his lifetime, and he remains a star today. His name is synonymous with an entire period, the Baroque. But his novel pictorial inventions continue to influence and appeal to artists. Now two leading museums, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, are hosting a major exhibition entitled “Rubens. The Power of Transformation”. The exhibition focuses on some little-studied aspects of Rubens’ creative process, illustrating the profound dialogue he entered into with works produced by other great masters, both precursors and contemporaries, and how this impacted his work over half a century. His use or referencing of works by various artists from different periods is generally not immediately apparent, and the exhibition invites visitors to discover these sometimes surprising correlations and connections by directly comparing the works in question. Comprising artworks in various media, the exhibition brings together paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures and objets d’art. Exemplary groups of works will demonstrate Rubens’ methods, which allowed him to dramatize well-known and popular as well as novel subject matters. This offers a fascinating glimpse into the genesis of his compositions and his surprising changes of motifs, but also how he struggled to find the perfect format and the ideal form. Rubens’ extensive œuvre reflects both the influence of classical sculpture and of paintings produced by artists - both in Italy and north of the Alps - from the late fifteenth century to the Baroque. Selected examples will help to illustrate the powerful creative effort that underpins Rubens’ compositions, and the reaction-chains they, in turn, set off in his artistic dialogue with his contemporaries.
    [Show full text]
  • In the 17Th Century, the Holy Family Was Often Portrayed As a Simple Family, One of Humble, Country Folk
    In the 17th century, the Holy Family was often portrayed as a simple family, one of humble, country folk. The Counter-Reformation highlighted the Bible stories, showing that the characters involved were real people. For example, the ministries were painted using different models, almost constituting portraits. The aim was to reinforce the faith. This uncatalogued Holy Family1 that is the subject of our study manifests great solemnity at the same time as close intimacy, with elegance in the figures of the Virgin and Child and extraordinary simplicity in the portrayal of both Saint Joseph and St. Francis of Assisi, with the latter featuring only rarely in paintings of the Holy Family. In our Holy Family, the centre of the painting is occupied by the Virgin, wearing clothes in her traditional colours, a red robe with a blue cloak, a violet shawl, and a white blouse. The Virgin is smiling almost devotedly at her son, who is standing and embracing his mother’s left hand, as she supports him on her knees. To the right of the scene, St. Joseph is positioned slightly further back, being portrayed with a beard, while St. Francis of Assisi stands to the left, closer to the Child. His hand reveals the wounds of the stigmata. The dark background reveals a series of columns on their pedestals. The characters are standing in front of a building2. The vividly coloured clothing imbues our painting with considerable dynamism and an attractive brilliance and brightness. On the lower right-hand side of the painting in question here, there is a monogram consisting of greyish letters, crested by a princely crown.
    [Show full text]
  • Download PDF Van Tekst
    De Gulden Passer. Jaargang 78-79 bron De Gulden Passer. Jaargang 78-79. Vereniging van Antwerpse Bibliofielen, Antwerpen 2000-2001 Zie voor verantwoording: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_gul005200001_01/colofon.php Let op: werken die korter dan 140 jaar geleden verschenen zijn, kunnen auteursrechtelijk beschermd zijn. i.s.m. 7 [De Gulden Passer 2000-2001] Woord vooraf Ruim een halve eeuw geleden begon de bibliograaf Prosper Arents aan de realisatie van zijn vermetel plan om de bibliotheek van Pieter Pauwel Rubens virtueel te reconstrueren. In 1961 publiceerde hij in Noordgouw een bondig maar nog steeds lezenswaardig verslag over de stand, op dat ogenblik, van zijn werkzaamheden onder de titel De bibliotheek van Pieter Pauwel Rubens. Toen hij in 1984 op hoge leeftijd overleed, had hij vele honderden titels achterhaald, onderzocht en bibliografisch beschreven. Persklaar kon men zijn notities echter allerminst noemen, iets wat hij overigens zelf goed besefte. In 1994 slaagden Alfons Thijs en Ludo Simons erin onderzoeksgelden van de Universiteit Antwerpen / UFSIA ter beschikking te krijgen om Arents' gegevens electronisch te laten verwerken. Lia Baudouin, classica van vorming, die deze moeilijke en omvangrijke taak op zich nam, beperkte zich niet tot het invoeren van de titels, maar heeft ook bijkomende exemplaren opgespoord, Arents' bibliografische verwijzingen nagekeken en aangevuld en de uitgegeven correspondentie van P.P. Rubens opnieuw gescreend inzake lectuurgegevens. Een informele werkgroep, bestaande uit Arnout Balis, Frans Baudouin, Jacques de Bie, Pierre Delsaerdt, Marcus de Schepper, Ludo Simons en Alfons Thijs, begeleidde L. Baudouin bij haar ‘monnikenwerk’. Na het verstrijken van het mandaat van de onderzoekster bleef toch nog heel wat werk te verrichten om het geheel persklaar te maken.
    [Show full text]