Dimensions 150 x 180 cm
Material Oil on canvas
Jan Jansen originals Shelter (2006), Butterfly (2012), Heart of my heart (2010)
Material Oil on canvas
Jan Jansen originals Shelter (2006), Butterfly (2012), Heart of my heart (2010)
Multi-media artist Joop Rubens is Amsterdam-born and bred. He currently lives and works in Amstelveen. In a long and rich career that spans over forty years, Rubens has displayed an array of diverse styles. They range from portraits in pencil and ballpoint pen on paper toportraits made out of staples with the help of a stapler, oil paintings and constructions made out wood. Rubens shows that he is capable of finding different forms of expression through a variety of materials and original concepts.
Rubens has been honoured with multiple solo exhibitions, some of which were staged at the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and the Cobra museum in Amstelveen. He has also exhibited in Belgium, Germany, Israel, the USA and been represented at Art Basel in Switzerland. His work is held in numerous international collections, such as the VSB Bank Collection, the ABN AMRO Collection and the Jewish Historic Museum. He was awarded the European Prize for Painting in 1973 and 1978.
Rubens has worked with Jan Jansen before: in 2012, alongside plastic surgeon Refaat B. Karim for the Museum Jan van der Togt and Rubens has made various portraits of Jan Jansen.
For this project, Rubens used Jan Jansen shoes as the starting point. This resulted in the painting Ode to Jan Jansen, The Three Graces of Rubens 1635/2017. The painting clearly has multiple meanings, with clear links to Peter Paul Rubens (1577– 1640) and his famous work titled The Three Graces which was executed in 1630-35. Rubens had developed strong feelings for female beauty, says Joop Rubens: We all know the women that Rubens portrayed so vividly in his paintings.
This same eye for female beauty is something Joop Rubens recognized in the Jan Jansen books he studied. He noticed this connection between the two artists - together with three particular Jan Jansen shoes and the fact that his last name is the same as that of Peter Paul Rubens formed the basis of this painting.
As an artist, Rubens gave the project his very own twist. By melding the atmosphere and the land- scape depicted in The Three Graces with his own ideas, he has created an interplay between the year 1635 and the present day. The result is a surreal painting with three iconic Jan Jansen shoes starring as female figures – a Rubens anno 2017.
‘Jan is pristine and always himself, can dedicate eyes and ears to others, quirky views, always positive
thinking, ever lovingly speaking about his muse Tonny, sincerely friendly far beyond societal standards, timeless concepts yet innovative, critical view, never-
ending energy levels, unique personality, amazing partner to work with.’
thinking, ever lovingly speaking about his muse Tonny, sincerely friendly far beyond societal standards, timeless concepts yet innovative, critical view, never-
ending energy levels, unique personality, amazing partner to work with.’