Painting of the Day: Sir Peter Paul Rubens: The Garden of Love

Sir Peter Paul Rubens' (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) painting, The Garden of Love from the Prado is one of the most magnificent paintings in a career laden with uncounted masterpiece after masterpiece:

There are several other paintings by Rubens also titled at various times as "The Garden of Love" including the copy of Titian's Worship of Venus and this magnificent Feast of Venus from Vienna:

The Prado painting of "The Garden of Love" is quite simply one of Ruben's greatest achievements... one of his most influential paintings... and certainly one of my favorites. I used to bemoan the fact that I did not have clothes of such exquisite colors and textures to paint. Somehow jeans and a t-shirt with the logo of some rock band seem rather pathetic in comparison.

Some critics have pointed out that this painting essentially established the basic elements for the whole of 18th century Rococo paintings portraying well-heeled lovers gathered in peaceful bowers... especially the paintings of Watteau:

... and the idyllic pastoral paintings of Boucher:

... as well as Fragonard...

Even the Impressionist painting of Renoir portraying  middle-class gatherings owe something to Ruben's example:

The Garden of Love was painted shortly following Ruben's second marriage, and his "retirement" to his palatial estate at Steen, following long years active in diplomatic service. making use of his access to the various European leaders who had commissioned him to paint their portraits, Rubens employed his mastery of languages (he spoke 8) and diplomacy in an effort to avoid war between France, England, and Spain... wars in which the Flemish were continually embroiled. As a result of these efforts he was knighted in three countries. Dealing with such devious figures as Cardinal Richelieu and the Duke of Buckingham must have proved endlessly frustrating for Rubens... and his thoughts on war are well expressed in his painting The Horrors of War:

In this painting the Furies drag Mars away to war and glory... glory wrought in death and destruction. He turns his back upon his beautiful mistress, the goddess Venus (and love)... and his children... and he brutally tramples the symbols of art, music, and literature beneath his feet. Rubens grew disgusted with the world of political leaders and their games of war... and was especially disgusted with how his beloved native country was forever a pawn in these games. He thus turned to his family and immediate surroundings... perhaps not unlike Voltaire's Candide... the famous closing in which which Candide declares that we must first "tend our garden".

Among the most important paintings of this period of "retirement" from public life (Rubens had little need to promote his art anymore... he was the wealthiest artist in Europe)... was the so-called Kermesse or Village Dance which portrays the joyful peasant dance as the artist must have seen in the towns and villages surrounding his estate at Steen:

This painting portrays peasant couples gathered together... drinking, dancing, playing games, and engaged in lovemaking. The entire theme is that of the joy of life and love and nature. This painting clearly owed much to Ruben's idol, Pieter Breughel, whose son, Jan, was a close friend... and several of whose paintings were in the possession of Rubens.

-Pieter Brueghel the Elder- Peasant Dance

With The Garden of Love, Rubens takes the same theme into a more aristocratic mode. He builds upon the earlier painting of himself and his new young wife, Helena, and child strolling through the lush gardens of his aristocratic estate:

With The Garden of Love he gathers together a group of aristocratic lovers decked out in the most sumptuous of satins and lace and places them in a garden dedicated to Venus... the Goddess of Love and Beauty... who is seen as a sculptural fountain to the right... riding her dolphin.

At the far left, her son, Cupid, pushes the somewhat reluctant new couple... the artist and his young wife, Helena, into the group of lovers gathered on the lawn.

The compositional groupings of figures are brilliant... and often allude to well-known poses from older Renaissance paintings. Framed between the dark dress of Helena and that of the young woman on the ground to her immediate right, Rubens draws the viewer into a conversation between a pair of lovers... rather as a camera zooming in on a close up. The dashing young man speaks to the object of his affection earnestly... but she looks away... toward us... bored.

A beauty dressed in a golden gown near the center strikes a pose as she also looks out toward the viewer... inviting us to join the reveries.

Again the artist employs his mastery of composition in an unrivaled manner leading our eye through the painting as a director might lead the camera through a gathered group zooming in on this person and panning out to capture the wider groupings.

This marvelous painting not only establishes the mode for subsequent Rococo painting... it also suggests the exquisite love poetry of Robert Herrick...

A Delight in Disorder:

A SWEET disorder in the dress  Kindles in clothes a wantonness :  A lawn about the shoulders thrown  Into a fine distraction : An erring lace which here and there  Enthrals the crimson stomacher :  A cuff neglectful, and thereby  Ribbons to flow confusedly :  A winning wave (deserving note)  In the tempestuous petticoat : A careless shoe-string, in whose tie I see a wild civility : Do more bewitch me than when art  Is too precise in every part. 

Upon Julia's Clothes

WHENAS in silks my Julia goes, Then, then, methinks, how sweetly flows That liquefaction of her clothes. Next, when I cast mine eyes and see That brave vibration each way free ; O how that glittering taketh me ! 

(and later early Verlaine)...

...as well as the operas of Mozart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXQX1U8mJwY

Hendrickje Wading

Art Discussion: Rembrandt- Hendrijke Wading in a Stream

There are certainly far more famous (and larger) Rembrandts... but this one has long been one of my absolute favorites. I have several friends and acquaintances living in London who I envy for their access to this painting (among others). How about an even trade: MoMA for the National Gallery... straight up.

This small painting (approximately 18 x 24") of a woman wading in a stream has been almost certainly identified as Hendrickje Stoffels (1626 -1663) the long-time lover of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606 –1669).

Hendrickje initially obtained work as Rembrandt's housekeeper, and seems to have lived with him from approximately 1647, a few years after the death of his first wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh (1612 - 1642). After a short period of time she became one of the artist's models and then his lover. This led to an acrimonious fallout with Rembrandt's previous live-in lover, Geertje Dircx, who sued Rembrandt for breach of promise in 1649, and demanded maintenance payments from him.

In spite of being Rembrandt's long-time lover, Rembrandt was unwilling to marry Hendrickje... initially due to the fact that by marrying her he would have forfeited the inheritance of his first wife Saskia. Even with this inheritance he had major financial problems, but without it he would have been bankrupt. 

In 1654, when she was pregnant with Rembrandt's daughter, Hendrickje had to appear before the church council for "living in sin" with Rembrandt, who was a widower and 20 years her senior. She was judged and found guilty by the Council of the Reformed Church in Amsterdam. She confessed to having fornicated with the painter and admitted to sharing his bed without being married, like a whore, or in a more literal translation, committing whoredom. Rembrandt was not found guilty, perhaps because the jury had in mind the episode of Eve and the apple. But the scandal caused the price of his work to tumble. 

According to some sources, Hendrickje was also sentenced to public flogging, while others suggest that the entire reason that charges were brought forth was in order for Rembrandt's creditors to seize upon his and Saskia's assets... including his paintings.

In 1655, Titus, Rembrandt and Saskia's son, turned 14, making him eligible by law to draw up his will. Rembrandt immediately made sure that Titus installed him as his only heir and by doing so circumvented Saskia's will. Still, he did not marry Hendrickje.

In spite of the artist's legal maneuverings, by 1656 Rembrandt was forced to declare bankruptcy. In 1658 he lost his house, and he, Hendrickje, and Titus moved into a rented property. In the same year, Hendrickje, who got along well with Titus, opened an art shop with Titus’ help where she sold Rembrandt’s paintings. In order to protect him from his money lenders Hendrickje and Titus became his employers. In this way his former maid become his boss – at least officially. Her biographer Christoph Driessen believes that Rembrandt’s noticeable productivity in the early 1660s was at least partially due to the obvious support Hendrickje was rendering him. She helped organize his life for him and prevented his complete downfall after his bankruptcy.

The painting of Hendrijke Wading in a Stream is dated 1654. Personally, I love this painting. It conveys such warmth and intimacy... yet without any hint of salaciousness. There are few paintings along this line prior to Degas, Bonnard, etc... One critic suggested that Rembrandt is here painting Hendrickje "wading into the water of innocence"... assuaging her guilt. But this is not complete innocence, of course, since the same heavy and ornate crimson and gold fabric (vanity, vanity) used for Bathsheba's robe also lies on the bank beside his stunningly beautiful lover:

Hendrickje is seen raising her skirts or nightdress above the waters revealing her thighs while the deeply plunging décolletage exposes or rather suggests her delicate cleavage. The resulting image is extraordinarily sensual. In all likelihood a work so audaciously and daringly intimate was painted by Rembrandt solely for his own and Hendrickje's enjoyment... a personal celebration of Eros and their own affection or love

In many ways this painting recalls Rubens's Het pelsken, to which it's often been compared:

On the other hand, there are more than a few telling elements that are quite different from Rubens' great full-length portrait of his beautiful, young second wife, Helena Fourment clad only in a fur wrap. Helena appears carefully posed... yet insecure. While in Rubens' eyes Helena may appear an Ovidian goddess, she clearly conveys a degree of unease or discomfort at posing as  the black fur sliding about her opal, glowing skin as she almost comically struggles to cover herself.

But Rembrandt paints Hendrickje not looking at him (or at us... the audience). He catches her sidelong... in an act of self-absorption... allowing the viewer to contemplate her without interruption. 

In this sense, the difference is akin to that between Giorgione's Dresden Venus...

and Titian's Venus d'Urbino...

One painting invites an uninterrupted admiration of the beautiful female form, while the other engages in a dialog between the audience and the woman... a dialog that may include a degree of discomfort. 

Considering this relationship between the viewer and the sitter, Rubens may actually be the more audacious... more in line with "modern" sensibilities. 

The paint handling itself is marvelously varied; there is the lovely translucency of the water, the rich, almost Venetian sensuality of the rich clothing cast to one side, the most exquisitely precise corkscrew curl hanging over Hendrickje's neck, the creamy and well sculpted forms of the head and legs... which remind me of Vermeer's Maid Pouring Milk...

... and the rapid and calligraphic painting of the woman's shift and her arm which recalls the artist's beautiful ink drawings.

In spite of all this variety in the handling of paint, the end result hold together magnificently.

This is all part of the illusion... and the magic.

 What artist would not envy the ability to do just one such painting in his or her entire career?