Berwick-St-James Art Appreciation
The Reading Room (opposite the Boot Inn)
Thursday 23rd September 2021 at 7.30 with entry from 7.10

Landscape: Rubens & The Idealisation of Place

Towards the end of an illustrious life as official court painter and ambassador to the
Archdukes of the Spanish Netherlands, honoured with knighthoods by both Charles I
and Philip IV of Spain, Peter Paul Rubens, by this time in his late 50s and already
retired, bought the estate of Het Steen in Flemish Brabant in 1635. Like Gainsborough,
Ruben’s first love was the depiction of landscape and retirement with his new young
wife Helene Fourment gave him a fresh creative impulse, the result being two of the
greatest landscape paintings of the Baroque period, A View of Het Steen in the Early
Morning and The Rainbow Landscape. This presentation will begin with a brief illustrated
biography of Rubens and continue with the context within which these paintings
evolved and finally reference will be made to the influence these paintings had on future
generations of painters.
Glass of wine, beer, or soft drinks on entry. £5 donation to the Reading Room Fund,
with under 16 free. For further information: see Berwick-St-James Village website,
contact Brian Armstrong on Tel. 01722 790647, or brianarm100@hotmail.com