Exhibitions
Bosch and Bruegel: A Journey to Fantastic Worlds
From October 23, 2020, to January 24, 2027, the Barrié Foundation in A Coruña will host the Spanish premiere of "Bosch and Bruegel: A Journey to Fantastic Worlds ," an exhibition dedicated to the work of Jheronimus van Aken, or Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450-1516), better known as El Bosco, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1569). It is a tribute to the imagination and boundless fantasy of both masters.
Organized by the Galician foundation, the 85 engravings, etchings, and woodcuts from the collection of the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum (Rotterdam, Netherlands) will showcase their extraordinary universe, brimming with symbolism, dreamlike imagery, humor, and wit. Organized by artist and theme, the exhibition offers both a glimpse into Northern European printmaking during the 15th and 16th centuries—with Antwerp as one of its key centers of production and dissemination—and an exploration of the preferred techniques of its creators.
The Blue Barge, 1559 Engraving, Pieter van der Heyden, Dutch, circa 1530-circa 1572 In the style of Jheronimus van Aken, Bosch, Dutch, circa 1450-1516, Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam.
Although Bosch was not a graphic artist, fifty years after his death his most unsettling images began to appear in prints, recreated by other artists. Since the bulk of his paintings were in private collections, Antwerp publishers satisfied the demand for his work by marketing affordable prints under his name, featuring figures and scenes alluding to his paintings, such as The Tree Man , his popular hybrid form from The Garden of Earthly Delights .
Pieter Bruegel's imagination rivaled that of his predecessor; in fact, in his early years, he imitated Bosch's style and themes with such skill that he came to be known as "the second Bosch." In any case, both geniuses created such unusual images and visions of the world that they quickly spread like wildfire. Indeed, Pieter van der Heyden's engraving, The Temptation of Saint Anthony , includes the entire array of Bosch's motifs...
Bruegel, however, ended up being a magnificent designer of prints with satirical themes, as sardonic as they were innovative. Working hand in hand with professional engravers, he created imposing landscapes, allegorical representations of money or deceit, or unsettling everyday scenes of peasants, jesters… like prisms through which the public could see themselves and their world.
The big fish eats the little fish, 1557, Engraving, Pieter van der Heyden, Dutch, c. 1530-c. 1572 After Pieter Bruegel the Elder Dutch, c. 1526/27-1569 With the inscription, «Hieronijmus.Bos. inuentor», Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, Photo: Studio Buitenhof.
According to Peter van der Coelen, curator of the exhibition and curator of Prints and Drawings at the Boijmans Museum, one of the few museums in the world where the work of both artists, and that of the Surrealists they inspired, is so well represented, "this is the first exhibition entirely dedicated to the prints of Bruegel and other contemporary Dutch artists inspired by Bosch": a little-known group who broke with convention and focused their attention on ordinary people and the absurdity of many human behaviors. Their prints and etchings reached, in fact, a wide urban audience, far beyond their local areas.
Although created five hundred years ago, their themes feel strikingly contemporary: scenes of faith or madness, demons, everyday life, dreams, and nightmares intertwine, revealing the fragile nature of humankind. Moreover, many of the graphic works conceal miniature scenes, as mocking as they are unsettling, transforming contemplation into a unique visual treasure hunt…
The Barrié Foundation thus persists in its commitment to the different artistic disciplines, in line with previous exhibitions such as that of the Dutch and Flemish drawings of the Victoria & Albert Museum or that of the fables and dreams of Marc Chagall.
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