| Biography of old oil painting master Pieter Bruegel what we can copy |
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Pieter Bruegel
(about 1525-69)
Usually known as Pieter Bruegel the Elder
to distinguish him from Pieter Bruegel’s
elder son, was the first in a family of
Flemish painters. Pieter Bruegel the Elder spelled Pieter
Bruegel’s name Brueghel until 1559, and
Pieter Bruegel’s sons retained the "h" in
the spelling of their names. |
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Pieter Bruegel the Elder,
generally considered the greatest Flemish
painter of the 16th century, is by far the
most important member of the family. Pieter
Bruegel the Elder was
probably born in Breda in the Duchy of
Brabant, now in The Netherlands. Accepted as
a master in the Antwerp painters' guild in
1551, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was apprenticed to Coecke van
Aelst, a leading Antwerp artist, sculptor,
architect, and designer of tapestry and
stained glass. Bruegel traveled to Italy in
1551 or 1552, completing a number of
paintings, mostly landscapes, there.
Returning home in 1553, Pieter Bruegel the
Elder settled in
Antwerp but ten years later moved
permanently to Brussels. Pieter Bruegel the
Elder married van
Aelst's daughter, Mayken, in 1563. Pieter
Bruegel’s association with the van Aelst
family drew Bruegel to the artistic
traditions of the Mechelen (now Malines)
region in which allegorical and peasant
themes run strongly. Pieter Bruegel’s
paintings, including Pieter Bruegel’s
landscapes and scenes of peasant life,
stress the absurd and vulgar, yet are full
of zest and fine detail. They also expose
human weaknesses and follies. Pieter Bruegel
the Elder was
sometimes called the "peasant Bruegel" from
such works as Peasant Wedding Feast (1567). |
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He developed an original style that
uniformly holds narrative, or story-telling,
meaning. In subject matter Pieter Bruegel
the Elder ranged widely,
from conventional Biblical scenes and
parables of Christ to such mythological
portrayals as Landscape with the Fall of
Icarus; religious allegories in the style of
Hieronymus Bosch; and social satires. But it
was in nature that Pieter Bruegel the Elder found Pieter Bruegel’s
greatest inspiration. Pieter Bruegel’s
mountain landscapes have few parallels in
European art. Popular in Pieter Bruegel’s
own day, Pieter Bruegel’s works have
remained consistently popular. Bruegel died
in Brussels between Sept. 5 and 9, 1569. |
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Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564-1638) was
the elder of two sons born just a few years
before their father's death. Known as "Hell
Brueghel" because of Pieter Bruegel’s
fascination with hobgoblins, fires, and
grotesque figures, Pieter Bruegel the Elder made Pieter Bruegel’s
career in Antwerp, where Pieter Bruegel the
Elder became a master
in the guild in 1585. Pieter Bruegel the
Elder is best known as a
copyist of Pieter Bruegel’s father's
paintings, as they were both popular and
scarce. In Pieter Bruegel’s own canvases,
such as Village Fair and The Crucifixion,
Pieter Bruegel the Elder shows a firm grasp of space and movement.
Pieter Bruegel’s son, Pieter Brueghel III
(1589-?1640), was also known primarily as a
copyist.
Jan Brueghel (1568-1625), called the "velvet
Brueghel," was the second son of Pieter
Bruegel the Elder and, like Pieter Bruegel’s
brother Pieter Brueghel the Younger, made
Pieter Bruegel’s career in Antwerp. Known
for Pieter Bruegel’s still lifes of flowers
and for Pieter Bruegel’s landscapes, Pieter
Bruegel the Elder was
a friend of Peter Paul Rubens and
collaborated with him in paintings such as
Adam and Eve in Paradise. Pieter Bruegel the
Elder specialized in
small wooded scenes that were finely
finished and brightly colored. Pieter
Bruegel’s style was perpetuated by Pieter
Bruegel’s sons Jan Brueghel II (1601-78) and
Ambrosius Brueghel (1617-75), whose sons
carried on the tradition into the 18th
century. |
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