Yesterday I went to a museum lecture about Rubens and Baroque art. This curator from Belgium talked about different drawings and paintings he did. Rubens is one of the best artists of all time I think. When I was in Paris in the Louvre I spent an hour in this rooom filled with his 50 foot paintings. the thing about his paintings aren't just that he drew nude women...it's that he is a master of drawing moving figures. other artists may be good at drawing someone standing still. Rubens figures are all writhing, grabbing, twisting, struggling, reaching.
No one draws people in motion with such gusto and liveliness. He is a caricaturist in a way. Not exaggerating the heads but caricaturing movement. This is the essence of baroque art: showing grand events, extreme emotions. You won't find any subtlety here.
