Vienna welcomes Bruegel
The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is currently exhibiting a major retrospective of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, until 13 January 2019. The slogan of the exhibition, 'Once in a lifetime', is no exaggeration. Never before has so much of the old master's work been exhibited in one place.
The work of Pieter Bruegel (ca. 1525 - 1569) has appealed to the imagination for centuries. The painter is best known for his landscapes (including Winter landscape with skaters and a bird trap and Hunters in the snow) and everyday events (including The peasant wedding, Netherlandish proverbs and Children's games). But he didn't shy away from religious themes either. Examples of his religious-themed work include The tower of Babel and The Procession to Calvary. And with his apocalyptic works including The Triumph of Death and the newly restored Mad Meg, he followed Hieronymus Bosch's lead.
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is exhibiting no less than 30 paintings, 35 drawings and around thirty engravings by the painter. The exhibition also explains how specialists restored and researched a number of the paintings.
Visitors to the exhibition must make a reservation in advance. You can find more information at www.bruegel2018.at. For those who can't get enough of Bruegel, the Kunsthistorisches Museum has launched the website Inside Bruegel, where visitors can view every detail of the master's work.
2019 is the 450th anniversary of Pieter Bruegel's death, and this will also be commemorated in Belgium. From April 2019, the exhibition 'The World of Bruegel' will be organised in the Bokrijk open-air museum. However, none of his paintings will be on display. Instead, the Bokrijk museum wants visitors to experience the landscapes and Bruegel scenes in full. The programme also includes various related activities, including theatre performances and an interactive game. More information can be found at http://www.dewereldvanbruegel.be/en/.