Comparing Pieter Bruegel and Wislawa Szymborska
How could the painter Pieter Bruegel and writer Wislawa Szymborska have anything remotely in common, when the fact is that four hundred years separate their works? A painting by Pieter Bruegel connects these two artists over four hundred years of time.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder was born sometime between 1525 and 1530. Originally a student of Pieter Coecke van
Alost, he was later accepted into the Antwerp painters' guild in 1551. In 1563 he married Coecke's daughter, and they later had two children. Both children would prove to have their own artistic abilities and would carry on the painting tradition. Only six years after his marriage, he would be buried at the same church
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Gibson, an author of a book on Bruegel. He chose not to follow the same Flemish style that was popular amongst many fellow artists. This made him an individualist. Surprisingly, his works grew popular nonetheless. Bruegel often painted scenes of vast landscapes, but was more known for his paintings of peasant life. Because he spent much of his time working on peasant scenes, many think of him as one of the Flemish peasants. In reality, he was the same as any townsman and actually regarded peasants as a form of low life and a social class to mock. This mockery is evident in his painting Peasant Wedding and Feast. The wedding takes place in a barn, people are shoveling food into their mouths, and as E.H. Gombrich puts it, the bride "sits quietly, with folded hands and a grin of utter contentment on her stupid face"(380). This seems to be one of Bruegel's happier paintin! gs of peasants, and their activities.
Due to the detailed nature of his paintings, Bruegel's works have often aided in deciphering events of the past. For example, the Labours of the Month paintings distinctly show us the monthly routines of a peasant and his family:
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When you hear that peasants had it bad, it is difficult to really understand how bad it was. When you look at these paintings, you see little joy or happiness in the routines of peasants' life.
One observer of Bruegel's works is Wislawa Szymborska, last year's winner of the Nobel prize for literature. Now seventy-three years old, Szymborska lives in Krakow, Poland. Married twice (once to a writer and once to a poet), she is considered to be one of the finest European artists of these times. She is also one of five Polish winners of the
Nobel prize for literature. Upon winning, Szymborska was quoted as saying, "I'm afraid I will not have a quiet life now. It is hard to believe but I was never hoping for an award" (Heintz). This year's prize was the richest ever at
$1.12 million dollars. With only a few close friends, Szymborska has always led a private life, but that may all change now that she is very rich.
Edward Hirsch says that "her writing has often reflected philosophical and ethical issues rather than the post-modern fads that contemporary writers everywhere have been swept along by"(46). This next piece of her writing shows her
philosophical
... previous jobs to convey a welcoming and educational message in his work. He makes his art clear, educational, and unconventional to express his individuality and help children in their development. Had it not been for his first couple of jobs, the teacher that showed him the banned painting, and his love for children he probably would not be the memorable artist that he is today.
The compositions that each piece displays is different and prestige in its own right. Flemish panel painters were largely influential and created extraordinary developments in composition. The artwork tends to be very detailed and filled with symbolic meanings from surrounding objects or even coloring. Jan van Eyck was especially credited for paying exceptional attention to detail that creates such a realistic form, the figures seem lifelike. Much of this realistic appearance is due to the medium that was widely used in the North. The use of oil paints and techniques, such as finer detail with smaller brush strokes and layering of oil paints to create a glaze, were used and developed giving the Northern art distinct characteristics and composition. Italian painters created frescos by applying pigments to wet plaster. The result is a dull, flatter color and they were unable to achieve intricate detail. The com...
...bove and amazed many people with his talents. He had a creative passion for his works that is indescribable.
Netherlandish Renaissance painter and printmaker Pieter Bruegel the Elder is known for his landscapes and peasant scenes. He was born in 1525 in Breda Duchy of Brabant, Habsburg Netherlands. Bruegel is nicknamed “Peasant Bruegel” or “Bruegel the Peasant” because he would dress
Most of his paintings are either oil on canvas or oil on board. He traveled and painted extensively in Europe and also did a series of paintings documenting the building of the Panama Canal. In some cases he took his easel and paints right into the canal excavation sites to capture the subject he had in mind. His later works included scenes from Mexico and California where he was a noted member of the plein air movement.
Van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in the rectory of Zundert in Barbant (Burra). His father was a soft-spoken Dutch clergyman. The only thing Van Gogh got from his father, was the desire to be involved in the family church. Even at an early age, Vincent showed artistic talent but neither he nor his parents imagined that painting would take him where it did later in life. One of his first jobs came at the age of sixteen, as an art dealer’s assistant. He went to work for Goupil and Company, an art gallery where an uncle had been working for some time. Three of his father’s brothers were art dealers, and he was christened after the most distinguished of his uncles, who was manager of the Hague branch of the famous Goupil Galleries (Meier-Graefe). His parents were poor, so his rich uncle offered to take him ...
of human minds, and able to express true emotion into his art that very few artists could ever hope to portray.
own painting. He sees some figures, along with a castle and somewhat of a landscape. The artist
Pieter, Bruegel. The Numbering at Bethlehem. Musee des Beaux Arts. Pieter Bruegel Oil Paintings. 12 Dec. 2005 .
Van Dyck spent the next six years studying the Italian masters and laying the foundations of his career as a successful portraitist. In 1627, he went back to Antwerp where for some years he painted a host of masterpieces. His reputation was made known to Charles I of England who recalled him. In 1632, van Dyck again arrived in London. His success in England was rapid. He painted portraits of King Charles, Queen Henrietta,
Pieter Bruegel’s painting “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus” is one of the greatest masterpieces created. The idea that time continues to pass endlessly is very evident, though every figure or shape that was drawn into this image. Overall, Bruegel succeeded in displaying the story of Icarus through illusions and the elements of art. Through every element found in this painting, Bruegel was able to create a great work of art that represents the story of Icarus but also the story of time and
Johann Tetzel, a Dominican Friar, was born in 1465 in the small town of Pirna, Poland. Tetzel was a key to the reformation period, and is probably best known for selling indulgences during the 1500’s. In 1517, Tetzel was trying to build St. Peter's Basilica, which would be used for the practice of Catholicism, and tried to raise money. It is believed that Tetzel gained a lot of money buy selling indulgences, which later inspired Martin Luther’s 95 theses, a famous piece of work related to the Protestant Reformation. All in all, Tetzel was a major impetus to the Reformation period because of his contribution of preaching about the Catholic Church, selling indulgences, and later inspiring Luther to write his 95 theses which was a very famous
...h figures of animals and people. I like that his work was very abstract. I like when he reflected his dry mood and varying mood, and he also expresses political convictions. I like when he used poetry, music and dreams and sometimes he included words or musical notation. His work relates to me because I like to work in art and invent my own style to create my pieces of art. I imagine my life colorful, and he uses a lot of colors to create his work. I like to use the resources that I have available to create a single piece of art, like he did. What I admire from him is that he never gave up, he always tried to work on his skills and improved them, and he accepted pressure from his friends in a good manner. I also like from him that he always tried to create his own work in his own style and he combine a lot of styles of art to create a single piece of art.
Bruegel was born in the province of North Brabant circa 1525. He developed his career as a painter and engraver, launching his career with a series of large
how much he admired him that the painting he did was thought to be the