A new exhibition at Berlin’s Kupferstichkabinett looks at Peter Paul Rubens through his drawings and the work of artists in his circle, including Anton van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens. The presentation places the Flemish painter among his students and contemporaries, showing how their works illuminate the period’s artistic life.
The museum holds 39 drawings by Rubens, 19 of which are included in the exhibition, titled “Rubens, Jordaens, Van Dyck.” The selection also reflects the museum’s collections of the other artists, which are less extensive in some cases.
Drawings were an important part of Rubens’ workshop practice. He used them to develop ideas for paintings, study and revise other artists’ work, and leave instructions for pupils and assistants. The article describes his Antwerp home as both a grand residence and a busy production centre, where dozens of employees helped produce thousands of paintings. Rubens prepared preliminary drawings and added finishing touches to completed works, while reserving a smaller studio for paintings made by his own hand.
One featured drawing, made in 1617, shows a maid carrying a jug on her head. Rubens’ workshop later adapted the chalk study for the “Adoration of the Shepherds,” now in Marseille. The painting slightly changes the figure’s head position while retaining her posture; the drawing, by contrast, conveys the immediacy of everyday life.
Van Dyck is represented by a 1616 sketch sheet, made when he was 17, on which he copied figures from Rubens’ paintings and added detailed notes on colour and form. The exhibition also includes a drawing he made five years later in England of the so-called Homer of the Earl of Arundel, a well-known ancient Greek sculpture. The article characterises Van Dyck’s line as quicker and more restless than Rubens’, while remaining precise.
Jordaens emerges as a major presence in the show. His charcoal and coloured-chalk drawings are presented as comparable in quality to those of Rubens and Van Dyck. Unlike the other two, Jordaens also made drawings for sale. His “Shepherd Couple,” created in 1640, combines erotic allusions with pastoral themes. Other works show how he adapted paper and composition: he added strips to a crowded design for “The Feast of Cleopatra” and reframed “Venus Comforted by Cupid” to emphasise its central scene.
The exhibition also places the artists in the history of the Spanish Netherlands. Antwerp suffered after Spanish forces captured the city in 1585, but recovered under the rule of Isabella and her husband, Albert of Austria. Rubens returned from Italy and became a court painter; his artist friend Jan Brueghel also received commissions from Brussels. The two collaborated on projects, including the “Madonna in a Flower Garland,” now in Munich.
The second part of the exhibition focuses on Brueghel and David Teniers, who married Brueghel’s daughter Anna in 1637. Their work illustrates the development of landscape painting in the southern Netherlands. Brueghel depicted village scenes and lively riverbanks, while Teniers also recorded Antwerp’s outline with precision. The exhibition’s only two paintings are by these artists: Brueghel’s “Riverbank with Boats,” from 1603, and Teniers’ “Flemish Fair,” made about 60 years later. Together, they show a shift from stories set within a broader landscape to village scenes that serve as a backdrop for figures in the foreground.
Following Rubens’ death and Spain’s setbacks in its war with France, the Spanish Netherlands entered a gradual decline. Artistic activity continued, but became increasingly concentrated around the Brussels court as trade contracted and aristocratic patronage diminished. By around 1650, drawings by Flemish masters had moved beyond the studio and become objects of trade, a change reflected in Teniers’ depiction of the art collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, where drawings are displayed alongside a book of prints.
Sources: FAZ.