Helena Fourment with Children

Last updated

Helena Fourment with Children (1636) by Rubens Rubens - Helene Fourment.jpg
Helena Fourment with Children (1636) by Rubens

Helena Fourment with Children is a c.1636 painting by Peter Paul Rubens, showing his second wife Helena Fourment with their son Frans (born 12 July 1633) in her arms and their daughter Clara Johanna (born 18 January 1632) standing to their left. It was acquired by Louis XVI of France in 1784 and is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

Contents

Description

The painting is an oil on canvas measuring 1.15 m. on 0.85 m. [1]

This represents Hélène Fourment (1614–1673), the second wife of the painter Pierre Paul Rubens. Daughter of a wealthy merchant in tapestries, she married the painter in 1630 [2] at the age of 16 while the latter, widower of his first wife, was 53 at the time of the wedding. [3] She is surrounded by two of their children: Clara-Johanna (born in 1632) and Frans (born in 1633).

In the center of the composition, Hélène Fourment wears a simple white dress and hugs her son Frans. The latter looks in the direction of the viewer. Clara-Johanna is standing on the left and turns her gaze towards her mother and her brother. [4]

A pentimento reveals, between the heads of Frans and Clara-Johanna, the arms of a third child, Isabelle, born in 1635. Certain colors have also never been completely affixed, such as the blue in the upper right corner which presents white streaks. Rubens thus leaves a partially unfinished work. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frans Pourbus the Younger</span> Flemish painter (1569–1622)

Frans Pourbus the Younger (1569–1622) was a Flemish painter, son of Frans Pourbus the Elder and grandson of Pieter Pourbus. He was born in Antwerp and died in Paris. He is also referred to as "Frans II".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony van Dyck</span> Flemish Baroque artist (1599–1641)

Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frans Snyders</span> Flemish painter (1579–1657)

Frans Snyders or Frans Snijders was a Flemish painter of animals, hunting scenes, market scenes, and still lifes. He was one of the earliest specialist animaliers and he is credited with initiating a wide variety of new still-life and animal subjects in Antwerp. He was a regular collaborator with leading Antwerp painters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jacob Jordaens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Vouet</span> French painter (1590–1649)

Simon Vouet was a French painter who studied and rose to prominence in Italy before being summoned by Louis XIII to serve as Premier peintre du Roi in France. He and his studio of artists created religious and mythological paintings, portraits, frescoes, tapestries, and massive decorative schemes for the king and for wealthy patrons, including Richelieu. During this time, "Vouet was indisputably the leading artist in Paris," and was immensely influential in introducing the Italian Baroque style of painting to France. He was also according to Pierre Rosenberg, "without doubt one of the outstanding seventeenth-century draughtsmen, equal to Annibale Carracci and Lanfranco."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francken family</span>

The Francken family was a family of artists the members of which were mainly active in Antwerp in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many of the members over three generations had the same first names Frans, Hieronymus and Ambrosius. While this may at the time have been effective as a marketing method by ensuring continuity of the family business, today's legacy is some confusion in the attribution of paintings, which often do not differ widely in style or execution between the various family members. The confusion is exacerbated by the signing practices of some family members: when Frans I's son Frans II reached his majority and began to sign paintings, Frans I started to add "the elder" to his signature to distinguish himself from his son, who then signed his works as "the younger". This happened again in the next generation when Frans II's son Frans III reached his majority. Frans II then started to sign his works with the elder, while Frans III used Frans the younger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James' Church, Antwerp</span> Church in Antwerp, Belgium

St. James' Church is a former collegiate church in Antwerp, Belgium. The church is built on the site of a hostel for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. The present building is the work of the Waghemakere family and Rombout Keldermans, in Brabantine Gothic style. The church contains the grave of Peter Paul Rubens in the eastern chapel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Snayers</span> Flemish painter (1592–1667)

Peter Snayers or Pieter Snayers (1592–1667) was a Flemish painter known for his panoramic battle scenes, depictions of cavalry skirmishes, attacks on villages, coaches and convoys and hunting scenes. He established his reputation mainly through his topographic battle scenes providing a bird's eye view over the battlefield. He further painted large landscapes and portraits of the aristocracy. He was a regular collaborator of local landscape painters and also Rubens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie de' Medici cycle</span> Paintings by Peter Paul Rubens

The Marie de' Medici Cycle is a series of twenty-four paintings by Peter Paul Rubens commissioned by Marie de' Medici, widow of Henry IV of France, for the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. Rubens received the commission in the autumn of 1621. After negotiating the terms of the contract in early 1622, the project was to be completed within two years, coinciding with the marriage of Marie's daughter, Henrietta Maria. Twenty-one of the paintings depict Marie's own struggles and triumphs in life. The remaining three are portraits of herself and her parents. The paintings now hang in the Louvre in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rubenshuis</span> Home of Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) in Antwerp

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabella Brant</span> First wife of painter Peter Paul Rubens (1591–1626)

Isabella Brant was the first wife of the Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens, who painted several portraits of her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Paul Rubens</span> Flemish artist and diplomat (1577–1640)

Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens's highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history. His unique and immensely popular Baroque style emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, which followed the immediate, dramatic artistic style promoted in the Counter-Reformation. Rubens was a painter producing altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects. He was also a prolific designer of cartoons for the Flemish tapestry workshops and of frontispieces for the publishers in Antwerp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Adriaenssen</span>

Alexander Adriaenssen was a Flemish Baroque painter, particularly known for his still-lifes of fish and game pieces. He also painted banquet pieces with food and flower still lifes.

<i>Isabella Brant</i> (drawing)

Isabella Brant, a portrait drawing, was executed in Antwerp around 1621, by Flemish artist and diplomat, Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). Brant (1591–1626) was Rubens' first wife and modelled for some of his portraits until her untimely death in 1626. The portrait is drawn in black and red chalk with white heightening on brown wash paper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balthasar Beschey</span> Flemish painter

Balthasar Beschey was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and decorative painter of interiors. He started his career as landscape painter but later on switched to history and portrait painting. He played a prominent role in the development of the Academy of Arts in Antwerp and as a teacher.

<i>The Garden of Love</i> (Rubens) 1633 painting by Peter Paul Rubens

The Garden of Love is a painting by Rubens, produced in around 1633 and now in the Prado Museum in Madrid. The work was first listed in 1666, when it was hung in the Royal Palace of Madrid, in the Spanish king's bedroom. In early inventories, the painting was called The Garden Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helena Fourment</span>

HelenaFourment was the second wife of Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens. She was the subject of a few portraits by Rubens, and also modeled for other religious and mythological paintings.

<i>Catharina Both-van der Eem</i> Painting by Frans Hals

Catharina Both van der Eem is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1620 and now in Louvre Museum. It is considered a pendant portrait to the Portrait of Paulus van Beresteyn, in the same museum.

<i>Helena Fourment with a Carriage</i>

Helena Fourment with a carriage is a 1639 painting by Peter Paul Rubens, showing his second wife Helena Fourment, their son Frans and a carriage.

<i>Helena Fourment with Her Son Frans</i>

Helena Fourment with her son Frans is a c.1635 painting by Peter Paul Rubens, showing his second wife Helena Fourment holding their second son Frans. As of 2014, it is in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

<i>Pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit</i> Pair of paintings by Rembrandt

The pendant portraits of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit are a pair of full-length wedding portraits by Rembrandt. They were painted on the occasion of the marriage of Maerten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit in 1634. Formerly owned by the Rothschild family, they became jointly owned by the Louvre Museum and the Rijksmuseum in 2015 after both museums managed to contribute half of the purchase price of €160 million, a record for works by Rembrandt.

References

  1. 1 2 Recht, Roland (2020), "Postface", Louvre, Collège de France, doi:10.4000/books.cdf.10257, ISBN   9782722605596, S2CID   241619962 , retrieved 1 April 2022
  2. Le Bitouzé, Corinne; Thompson, Marie (1 June 2016). "Le Catalogue général de la BnF s'enrichit de 51000 descriptions d'estampes françaises du xviiie siècle". Nouvelles de l'Estampe (255): 88–89. doi: 10.4000/estampe.524 . ISSN   0029-4888.
  3. Larousse, Éditions. "Larousse.fr : encyclopédie et dictionnaires gratuits en ligne". www.larousse.fr (in French). Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  4. Lescourret, Marie-Anne (2004). Rubens. Paris: Flammarion. ISBN   2-08-210337-4. OCLC   417675363.