1In the fl e s h A major exhibition on the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) continues at a London gallery until
January 28.
Showing more than 40 works, Rubens & Women at the Dulwich Picture Gallery will challenge the assumption Rubens painted only one type of woman. Instead it will consider depictions of the women who nourished his creativity and career – from female patrons to intimate depictions of his two wives, Isabella Brant and Helena Fourment, and his eldest daughter, Clara Serena Rubens.
3Soho full house The work of a group of four artists, inspired by a 1963 black-and-white photograph of the quartet, is celebrated at a London exhibition running until the end of January.
The exhibition, Friends and Relations: Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach, Michael Andrews runs at the Gagosian Grosvenor Hill until January 28, based on a snap of the foursome taken at Wheeler’s restaurant in Soho, London, almost 60 years ago.
The 40 works on show include the artists’ portraits of each other, most echoing their intense friendship and, on occasions, rivalry.
Michael Andrews’ ambitious group portrait The Colony Room I (1962), depicting the friends’ well-frequented Soho drinking haunt, is on loan from Pallant House Gallery, Chichester.
Far left Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) The Virgin in Adoration of the Child, c. 1616. KBC Bank, Antwerp, Snijders & Rockox House
Left Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) Clara Serena Rubens, the Artist’s Daughter, c. 1620-1623. Private Collection
Right Jan van Huysum (1682-1749), Flowers in a Terracotta Vase, 17361737, © The National Gallery
Below left Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) Venus, Mars and Cupid, c.1635, courtesy Dulwich Picture Gallery
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to see in December & January
Far right Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621) A Still Life of Flowers in a Wan-Li Vase on a Ledge with further Flowers, Shells and a Butterfly, 1609-1610, © The National Gallery
Above right Jan Davidsz. de Heem (1606-1684), Still Life, c. 1664, © The National Gallery
Below Lucien Freud, Reflection (self-portrait) (1922-2011) 1981-1982, © The Lucian Freud Archive, Bridgeman
2 Blooming marvellous Flower lovers have until January 15 to visit a Warwickshire exhibition exploring Dutch flower painting from the early 17th to late 18th century.
Compton Verney near Kineton is hosting the show of 10 masterpieces of the genre. Dutch Flowers includes nine works on loan from the National Gallery and another from a private collection.
At the turn of the 17th century, Netherlandish artists, such as Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621), were among the first of a group of artists producing paintings exclusively depicting flowers, a change sparked by a new societal interest in science, botany and horticulture.
Right Left to right; Timothy Behrens, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Michael Andrews, 1963, © John Deakin/ John Deakin Archive/ Bridgeman Images
Francis Bacon (1909-1992) Head of a Man (self-portrait), 1960, © Estate of Francis Bacon. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2022
lf-portrait), 1960, ) s Bacon. All Rights Reserved,
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