Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in unused condition. Hardcover. English. See images for condition.

About the book >.>.> One of the greatest Netherlandish artists Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525/30-1569) is best known today for his paintings of peasant life. Yet it was above all through his exceptional graphic work that he achieved widespread fame during the sixteenth century. His draw- ings and the prints made after his designs while based on traditional sources are innova- tive and independent and they are wide rang- ing in their subject matter. Among Bruegel’s foremost achievements in the graphic realm is the naturalistic rendering of landscape. In many instances inspired by the Alpine mountains and valleys the artist encountered during a journey in Italy he made as a young man these views synthesize the imagery of Bruegel’s Italian and Netherlandish predecessors at the same time they represent a new and highly influential departure: an inde- pendent landscape genre entirely focused on nature. Indeed a sixteenth-century author famously wrote of Bruegel “he teaches us to represent… the angular rocky Alps the dizzying views down into a deep valley steep cliffs pine trees that kiss the clouds far dis tances and rushing streams.” The master also created a body of peerless figurative designs featuring demons virtuous souls fools and faceless peasants tilling the land. In allegories portrayals of proverbs and biblical narratives he dissected the imperfections of human nature giving free rein to his imagination and a wicked sense of humor. Often Bruegel pro- duced what one early observer called “fantasies and bizarre things dreams and imaginations” that were closely based on the work of Hiemnymus Bosch and insqured hos conter poraries be call him the and Bon. (OS)