Rubens Oil Sketches

There's a master from history whose oil sketches I find absolutely amazing. The sitters look like people we see in our lives today. The expressions and the personalities they capture are relatable. They seem real. And yet, believe it or not, they were painted in the early 1600s. And the artist that painted them was Peter Paul Rubens, who is known and is still known for his grand, vibrant, sometimes massive oil paintings. He was one of the most in-demand artists of his time. But interestingly, his highly finished paintings were not the ones he personally preferred. Rubens is said to have actually preferred his color studies, which he often kept for himself. And these studies were possibly even kept under lock and key. Several he kept until his death. But I can see why. They're special. They capture his sitter unlike any formal painting could. Some experts believe he was the first artist to use oil sketches as part of the preparatory work for a formal painting. He created them as character studies, as design studies to present to clients, or as a way to mentally work through a composition. In some cases, he simply painted family members. Remember, photography didn't exist at that time. Painting was the only way to capture a loved one's likeness. And he definitely captured them. In a sense, he was ahead of his time. 300 years later, these studies could have been considered formal, finished works. There appear to be nearly 500 of his oil sketches in existence. Some of them are more like grisaille underpaintings. But a good number of them are full color. Let's take a closer look at one of my favorites. This piece was originally thought to be a sketch of his mother based on the intimacy it conveys. How personal it feels. But it turns out this was unlikely since his mother died nearly two decades prior. Whoever it is, they must have had a close relationship because you sense that he's sitting there in the kitchen with his palette and paints, perhaps while she's kneading dough for the day. Look closely at the brushwork. You can tell it was painted quickly. And yet the figure has such realism and excellent proportions. It shows how trained his eye was and how naturally skilled he was as a draftsman. If you were to cover the facial features and only look at the surrounding brushwork, you would see what looks like bare imprimatura and what appears to be just a quick underpainting. We can see thinned paint wet and wet. Loose, broad brushstrokes. Not perfective at all. But when we bring in the details, the facial features, you can see that there's thicker paint and more strategic brushwork. The contrast between the two styles makes it feel both lively and strangely real. It's a combination of a quick underpainting with more opaque finished brushwork. Also, look at the warmth in his tones and that beautiful natural red in her cheeks and lips. The slight smile, her expression. In a way, his sketches make the 1600s seem so relevant. Rubens was talented even beyond oil painting. He was an amazing drawer, sculptor, designer of tapestries, and occasional architect. He was fluent in at least five languages, and because of his linguistic skills and connections, he even served as occasional diplomat for the Netherlands. Yet, being a painter was his first love and his dominant career. And today, he's considered one of the greatest draftsmen to have ever lived.