Bruegel. The Complete Works

Description

The life and times of Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1526/30-1569) were marked by stark cultural conflict. He witnessed religious wars, the Duke of Alba's brutal rule as governor of the Netherlands, and the palpable effects of the Inquisition. To this day, the Flemish artist remains shrouded in mystery. We know neither where nor exactly when he was born. But while early scholarship emphasized the vernacular character of his painting and graphic work, modern research has attached greater importance to its humanistic content. Starting out as a print designer for publisher Hieronymus Cock, Bruegel produced numerous print series that were distributed throughout Europe. These depicted vices and virtues alongside jolly peasant festivals and sweeping landscape panoramas. He would eventually increasingly turn to painting, working for the cultural elite of Antwerp and Brussels. This monograph is a testament to Bruegel's evolution as an artist, one who bravely confronted the issues of his day all the while proposing new inventions and solutions. Rather than idealizing reality, he addressed the horrors of religious warfare and took a critical stand against the institution of the Church. To this end, he developed his own pictorial language of dissidence, lacing innocuous everyday scenes with subliminal statements in order to escape repercussions. This collection captures all the breadth and splendid detail of Bruegel's oeuvre like never before, and gathers all 40 paintings, 65 drawings, and 89 engravings in pristine reproductions-each piece a unique witness to both the religious mores and the close-knit folk culture of Bruegel's time. La vie et l'epoque de Pieter Bruegel l'Ancien (vers 1526/1530-1569) ont ete marquees par de violents conflits culturels. Il a ainsi connu des guerres de religion, le regne brutal du duc d'Albe alors gouverneur des Pays-Bas et les effets palpables de l'Inquisition. A ce jour, la vie de l'artiste flamand demeure nimbe de mystere. Nous ne savons pas exactement ou et quand il est ne. Si les erudits ont d'abord souligne le caractere vernaculaire de sa peinture et de ses gravures, la recherche moderne accorde plus d'importance a l'aspect humaniste de son oeuvre. Apres avoir concu des dessins preliminaires pour l'editeur Jerome Cock, Bruegel realise plusieurs series d'estampes qui furent distribuees dans toute l'Europe. Elles depeignent les vices et les vertus au detour de fetes paysannes endiablees et de paysages a perte de vue. Il se tourne ensuite de plus en plus vers la peinture, puisant sa clientele dans l'elite culturelle d'Anvers ou de Bruxelles. Cette monographie temoigne de l'evolution d'un artiste qui prit a bras le corps les grands motifs de conflit de son temps et proposa des inventions et des solutions nouvelles. Plutot que d'idealiser la realite, il representa les horreurs des guerres de religion et prit des positions critiques a l'egard de l'Eglise catholique. Il imagina ainsi son propre repertoire visuel de la dissidence, incorporant ses messages subliminaux dans des scenes innocentes du quotidien afin d'echapper aux blames. Cette anthologie reunit ainsi l'ensemble de ses 40 toiles, 65 dessins et 89 gravures impeccablement reproduits, autant de pieces qui temoignent a la fois des moeurs religieuses et de la culture populaire qui unissait les communautes a l'epoque de Bruegel.

Jurgen Muller holds the chair of Early Modern and Modern Art History at the Technical University of Dresden. He studied Art History at the universities of Bochum, Munster, Pisa, Paris, and Amsterdam, and has worked as an art critic and curator of numerous exhibitions. He is also the editor of TASCHEN's movies by decade series. Thomas Schauerte is the director of the municipal museums in Aschaffenburg. Until 2019 he was the manager of the Albrecht Durer House, the City Museum and the art collections of the City of Nuremberg. He is a specialist in graphic art whose research focusses on Albrecht Durer and the art of the Middle Ages and the Baroque period.

...one of the most imaginative, original and captivating artists in history. * The Guardian *