Peter Paul Rubens: The Pride of Life (Great Painters Series)

by Peter Paul Rubens, Xenia Yegorova, Maria Varshavskaya, K. S. Egorova, Tatyana Mordkova

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Editorial Reviews

A simple mission lies at the heart of Rubens: to give the most complete picture of the great Flemish master as possible. No fewer than 163 paintings, sketches, and drawings by the artist, plus nine tapestries, are put to this worthy task. A faithful, objective understanding of Rubens arises, from his beginnings under the influence of his master Otto Venius and Italian art, right through to the end of his career, when he basked in a major Spanish commission. Rubens is at home in all genres, and all are represented here: from landscapes to portraits, from altarpieces to genre scenes, and historical paintings too, of course. Even the talents of the decorator are revealed in his painted sketches, drawings, and tapestries. For this publication, the master's oeuvre is divided into five groupings: Rubens' Beginnings, Rubens and Italy, The Middle-Class Patron, Official Commissions, and Secular Subject Matter. Through the inclusion of tapestries, particular attention is paid to the genesis of his art. Works such as Descent from the Cross, Laying in the Sepulchre, The Stoning of Saint Stephen, and three altarpieces created for the city of Lille's churches and convents are included. From this impressive homage to Rubens, the general reader, connoisseur, and historian will all hopefully come to know Rubens better, and also be stimulated by the juxtaposition of works never presented in this way before.

Published on the occasion of Rubens, an exhibition at the Palais des Beaux Arts in Lille, France.

Customer Reviews

Rubens, 2006-05-09
by Igor Coitus (Houston, Tx)

I found this book to be dissapointing. The reproductions are small and far from a comprehensive catalogue (Though a comprehensive catalogue would be tough considering Rubens painted over 1700 paintings). The most dissapointing aspect was the size of the prints. The text is generic art-book text, and nothing special. I understand that this book was made to represent an exhibition, but I was expecting more for my money. I'm not saying that it's a bad book, just that it is perhaps overpriced especialy considering it was orignally sixty dollars. I recommend buying "Rubens: A Master in the Making" and "Peter Paul Rubens" by Gilles Neret, a book from the wonderful Taschen publishing company. For both of those books, which together come out to about the same price as this one, you will get more for your money. If you really want a great book on Rubens and you don't mind small reproductions I highly recomend buying "Rubens" by Kristen Belkin from the Phaidon Art & Ideas series (a great series), and it's only thirteen dollars online. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a markedly bad book, it just didn't meet my expectations. I wanted large, detailed, color reproductions, and there was very few in this book. I should give credit where credit is due and admit that there were some portraits that I had not seen before and was pleased to discover, and also that there were numerous reproductions of tapestries that Rubens designed that I had also not seen before... hence the three stars.

Not quite what I was looking for, 2006-03-09
by Scott Bredin (Durban, South Africa)

This is a good exhibition catalogue for the Lille showing of Ruben's work, but is not a comprehensive catalogue raisonne of his work. Since a number of his masterpieces could not be shipped to Lille, they are not included in the book - with the exception of some small black and white reproductions. It would have been great to have large colour plates of works such as the Samson and Delilah in the National Gallery in London.

In spite of this limitation the book is definitely still worth having: the reproductions are excellent and the selection of works is representative.