Peter Paul Rubens Challenges the Old Masters at the Alte Pinakothek Museum

Written by Mirjam Neumeister Friday, 28 January 2011 23:18

MUNICH.- The paintings by Peter Paul Rubens in the Alte Pinakothek – one of the largest and most important collections of his works anywhere – are undoubtedly one of the museum’s highlights. Over the next few months, these will be supplemented by an exhibition that focuses on a fascinating and yet unusual aspect of his pictorial oeuvre. Ruben as a copyist? What may seem to us today as a mere reproduction with nothing of the aura of the original was regarded by Rubens as a particular artistic challenge. His oeuvre includes a large group of such derivative works, frequently of famous paintings by Titian or Raphael. On exhibition until 7 February, 2010.

Exhibited in Munich for the first time, an exquisite selection of such works documents Rubens' treatment of his paradigms that amounted to nothing less than an artistic challenge. Simply by altering small details very slightly, Rubens often arrived at new solutions which sometimes surpassed the very work that had inspired him and lent them a surprising degree of modernity.

Few are aware of the fact that Rubens, who was one of the most productive and multifaceted Baroque painters, created a large number of copies of works by major artists. These are not mere reproductions in the modern sense but testify to an intense creative process. Rubens virtually entered into dialogue with the painting he was copying, taking on its pictorial language while attempting to reach a greater degree of perfection.

For the first time, this specific subject is being addressed in an exhibition in Munich which, simultaneously, underlines the significance of the museum’s own holdings of works by Rubens. While copying famous paintings already in existence, Rubens also developed his own style. His analysis of these exemplary works, however, can also be seen as a sort of artistic rivalry. By altering a few small details, he often reached new solutions which in turn lend his works a surprisingly modern aura. This is clearly demonstrated by a number of different paintings in the exhibition. Hanging Rubens’ reinterpretations alongside the originals forms an extraordinary highlight in the exhibition. It stimulates a fascinating dialogue and provides visitors with a unique visual experience. This is evident when comparing Titian’s "Adam and Eve" with Rubens’ copy (both in the Prado). The exhibition finishes on a particularly high note with large-format, mythological scenes, also based on Titian’s originals.

Masterpieces from the Prado in Madrid, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, are on temporary loan to the Alte Pinakothek and strike a uniquely harmonious chord with Munich’s own famous collection of paintings by the Flemish painter.

As a world-class painting gallery, the Alte Pinakothek is also a place where spectacular, special exhibitions are shown revolving around themes taken from aspects of European painting beginning with the Middle Ages through to the 18 th century. Small studio exhibitions as well as presentations of works from the museum's own collection are also part of a long, ongoing tradition. Visit : http://www.pinakothek.de/alte-pinakothek/index_en.php?

Curators: Reinhold Baumstark and Mirjam Neumeister.

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