ART HISTORY 102

Color VS. Drawing Which is more important color or drawing? These two have always been fought over for centuries by Poussiniste and Rubenistes. Two great pieces of art that were created in the 1600’s are Peter Paul Rubens’ The Caledonian Boar Hunt and Nicolas Poussin’s Landscape with Calm. While Rubens argues that color is the most important part of the painting Poussin argues that the drawing is more important. In the paragraphs below I will talk about the paintings each individually and then compare them. The first painting I will be talking about is Rubens’ The Caledonian Boar Hunt. This painting is a depiction of mythological event. The myth that is depicted in this painting is when the goddess Diana sent a boar to punish King Oeneus because he failed to honor her with offerings. The painting is the moment when the Kings son Maleager thrust his spear into the boars shoulder. The coloring makes the painting dramatic by giving it a lot of emotional and physical intensity. This painting shows the struggle between man and beast, it makes you think who will win man or beast. It was painted with oil and the coloring makes it almost real. If you look closely it looks like the people on the ground are actually bleeding. His inspiration for this came from many different places for example the people riding horses in this picture were inspired by Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael who came before him. The boar came from marble in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery. The dynamic interpretation of the moment was only his work. This painting Cleary shows that Rubens emphasizes color over drawing. He also uses facial expression to create drama in the painting. The subject matter of this painting which is the hunt very much affects the mood or effect he is trying to get. I have discussed Rubens, his style and the painting now I will talk about Poussin and his style. Poussin always believed that the most crucial part of the painting was the drawing and not the color. In the