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Portrait of the Daughter of Balthasar
Gerbier d'Ouvilly
Peter Paul Rubens,
1577-1640
1629
Black, red and white chalk, with touches of pen with
brown ink, on yellowish-grey paper; 33.5 x 23 cm
Rubens stayed at Balthasar Gerbier's house during
his visit to London in 1629-30, and this portrait of
Gerbier's daughter was taken from the life at this time.
The charming young woman differs noticeably from
the buxom, smiling women in the artist's paintings.
In creating this drawing, the artist used various
combinations of red and black chalk, with soft
touches of white highlighting. Every stroke in the
drawing is relevant to the depiction of the sitter: the
face is modelled with light strokes, the figure,
shoulders, and arms under the folds of the dress are
executed in clear, firm lines. Depicting the hair, the
artist alternated red chalk and pencil strokes. Thus
the artist created a marvellously sparkling, lively,
painterly work.
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