Popular LandscapeSpecializing in landscapes populated by peasants, Brueghel is often credited as one of the first landscape artists to paint landscape for landscape's sake rather than focus on religious or historical themes. Due to his detailed depictions of common life among the peasantry, Brueghel distinguished himself from contemporaries who tended to focus on aristocratic and/or religious activities. His earthy, unsentimental portrayals provide excellent records of village rituals such as agricultural practices, hunts, meals, festivals, dances, and games. In a sense, Brueghel's work provides a visual 'ethnography' of vanished folk cultures in terms of both physical and social aspects. In this work, Brueghel depicts about 100 identifiable Netherlander idioms including some shared in English such as "swimming against the tide," "big fish eat little fish," "banging one's head against a brick wall," and "armed to the teeth." A comprehensive record of geography, culture, and folk practices, Brueghel maps out a peasant universe in this comprehensive work.
I enjoyed reading your posts on landscapes and especially the images. I think you would also like a work called "The Beeches" by Asher Durand, 1845. I found this image referenced in an article called "The framed landscape" by Hildegard Binder Johnson - you can view it at this link: http://www.pafa.org/Museum/Exhibitions/Currently-On-View/Public-Treasures-Private-Visions-Hudson-River-School-Masterworks-from-the-Metropolitan-Museum-of-Art-and-Private-Collections/Image-Gallery/Image-Gallery/546/vobId__3094/
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I went and read the illustrated guide to this painting on Wikipedia--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandish_Proverbs--very interesting!
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