Man in Korean Costume (detail), about 1617, Peter Paul Rubens. Black chalk with touches of red chalk in the face. The J. Paul Getty Museum
Rubens and his Global Enterprise
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The 17th-century Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens worked in Antwerp, a bustling center of global trade where various cultures came into contact. To understand how this impacted his work, curator Stephanie Schrader investigates two of his drawings in the Getty Museum’s collection: Man in Korean Costume and Head Study for Balthazar. Both artworks provide important examples of the various misunderstandings that arose when Rubens depicted people of African and Korean descent. By viewing these works from religious, mercantile, and political perspectives, Schrader provides a nuanced examination of appropriation and cultural translation. A live Q&A follows the presentation.