Baroque art, developed from the middle of the XVIth century to the end of the XVIIIth century, is one of the most important european artistic movements. It is present in architecture, dancing, literature, music, sculpture and painting.
The word “barroco” was pejorative, and refered to the “irregularity” of a pearl. It is representative of the features of this artistic movement, which emphasises emotions, movements and vitality by the use, in painting, of intense light and shadow, dramatic perspectives, and sometimes the presence of exuberant colours.
Pierre-Paul Rubens is considered one of the emblematic figures of this movement. He represented the superiority of colours on drawing.
Indeed, in 1671, a debate broke out at the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in Paris, to find out if drawing or colour was more important in painting.
Poussinnists (Poussinistes), named after the painter Nicolas Poussin, prioritized drawing, and “Rubenists” (Rubénistes) argued that colour was the most essential element.
As you can guess by their name, these artists were inspired of Rubens’ monumental paintings L’enlèvement des filles de Leucippe, representative of the importance of colours in baroque art. Painters used vivid colours in their compositions such as red, green, blue. They developed strong contrasts between cold and warm colours, lights and shadows, creating intense and dynamical compositions flooded by colours and movements.
That is why, giving priority to rich and contrasting colours, with vaporous contours and dynamic touch, they were opposed to classical painters, like Nicolas Poussin, who developed symmetrical compositions and figures with defined contours and homogeneous, balanced colours.
This strong debate about the importance of colours and drawings highlights the prominence of colours, their use and their meanings in occidental modern art.
Rubens, L’enlèvement des filles de Leucippe (1618), huile sur toile, 222 cm x 209 cm, Alte Pinkothek, Munich
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