The Rubens
I time travelled! Literally!
I was mesmerizing to stand in front of the massive masterpieces, it was truly a grounding and humbling experience to see the Rubens in person. I had a chance to visit the Ringling Museum at Sarasota, Florida this summer and I couldn’t be more thankful for it.
As soon as I entered into the first gallery, the walls are filled with majestic Ruben masterpieces from floor to the ceiling. Yes these are huge paintings, I was awestruck to see those. Never ever in my life I had seen such a marvel. I kept scanning the paintings absorbing each an every brush stroke the master put down, smelling the paint as if it was fresh, noticing the figures, the drapery, the colors as if I time travelled to the Atelier of Peter Paul Rubens, I saw the master painting before me.
My mind urged me to take my phone out and start clicking photos, my heart kept me from it, my heart kept me focused on simply diving deep into the rich experience with all my mind body and breath, with all my senses. I spent hours simply observing and looking at those paintings on the walls, until my curiosity emerged and my internal dialogue began about how they painted this big back in the days, what were their paints and brushes like?
The degree of fineness each brush mark help my attention long. All I wanted to either be that painting or live within it! Ultimately my cell phone came out and I captured several photos of these greatest works, The were so huge that I could only reach about a foot at the bottom, so I took many close ups of what was available to me to click.
I couldn’t help but research more about the Rubens at the Ringling and came cross this article that shares more about these works https://www.ringling.org/five-facts-about-rubens-ringling
An excerpt from the article -
“The Ringling’s Triumph of the Eucharist paintings—five immense canvases that greet visitors upon entering the galleries of the Museum of Art. The history of these works is equally fascinating! Here are five facts about this series by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and his workshop.”
I learned that these paintings were made for a Spanish Princess, who ruled the Spanish Netherlands. In 1625, she asked him to produce the designs for a set of 20 tapestries to be given to a convent in Madrid and Today, there are only seven paintings.
Five of these are at The Ringling that I experienced and sharing it with you, and two are in the collection of the Louvre in Paris. The others are believed to have been destroyed in a palace fire.
WONDERS!
Witnessing the breathtaking fineness inspired me to think beyond where I am currently. To take a leap beyond the current, explore possibilities,
When I entered the art world, I was a blank slate, an electronics engineer that worked it technology, my blank slate was filled in with an introduction to different ways of solving the beautiful visual problems, of making art, be it classical, or impressions or modernism, each era is solving a visual problem with new solutions, yet for me the basics remain the same, the art of seeing before the art of making.
I am fortunate to have mentors along the way in my journey that not only encouraged my zest to learning art but also nurtured my natural way of learning. For me, each art era or genre offers me takeaways to incorporate into my works,
I am really thankful to learn from the finest of classical, impressions as well as cubist mentors, Cubism taught me clean shapes and simplicity, Impressionism taught me clean colors and capturing the light with the pigment, classical taught me to look beyond shapes and planes into a wholesome beauty of the natural world around us.
I want to really inspire you to follow your heart and continue nurturing your natural voice as you continue on your art journey! These old masters are always there for us to guide us.
Lets thanks to all our teachers, the teachers in the past, in the present and future. Teachers, you make our lives enriching with your guidance and experience. Thank you!
ASHWINI
