Landscapes. Émile Michel
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Название: Landscapes

Автор: Émile Michel

Издательство: Parkstone International Publishing

Жанр: Иностранные языки

Серия: Temporis

isbn: 978-1-78042-881-9, 978-1-78310-784-1

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СКАЧАТЬ he was violent and somewhat harsh in his work, but his power stands out in strong contrast when compared with the subtleties and insipidities of most of his contemporaries. It would be futile to look to any of these for such fertility and such wealth of imagination. In his paintings he liked contrasts, even in his subjects. Deep browns and blacks are used with pure whites, and he never fears to accentuate the brilliancy of his reds, yellows and greens. But while he leaves all their fullness to these colours, he composes harmonies of strange boldness with them. Bruegel was not ultra-refined; he belonged to his own little village and did not lose his robustness in the city. With his cheerful gaiety and fun, and his constant raciness, he gives us an art, which, though perhaps at the price of some coarseness, sustained intact its power and freshness. We shall not study here the work of his elder son, Pieter II who, as his nickname of “Hell” Bruegel indicates, preferred painting fantastic and diabolical pictures. The second son, Jan, was called “Velvet” Brueghel on account of the elegance of his dress and manners. But this epithet is also justified by the soft and minute finish of his style. He was scarcely a year old when, on the death of his father, he was adopted by his grandmother. She was an artist herself, and she taught the child to paint in watercolours. After taking lessons from Pieter Goekindt, a painter not well known, he made a pilgrimage to Italy, in accordance with the fashion of his time. He stayed there from 1593 to 1596, sketching the monuments and ruins of Rome.

      Velvet Brueghel (Jan Brueghel the Elder), River Landscape with Resting Hikers, 1594.

      Oil on copper, 25.5 × 34.5 cm.

      Private collection.

      Owing to the consideration in which his father was held and to his own personal charm, Jan soon made a place for himself in Antwerp, and was immediately admitted to the Guild of St. Luke. Besides the complex compositions, which so often tempted Bruegel, he also painted landscapes, but of very unequal value. The best of them, those in which the various themes are most accurately presented, are his various Roads, Approaches to a Town, and Canals. These are all panoramic views, animated by numberless figures to which he gives lifelike attitudes and gestures. In spite of the extreme abundance of detail, he preserves a great simplicity; but on the other hand there is often a great medley and crudeness of tone. Generally, he made use of the conventional three tones so dear to Patenier. Bruegel, perhaps, carried this to a greater excess than his predecessors. No doubt the colour of some of his landscapes has changed, for we find in the foreground of several of them those sharp blues which attract and offend the eye. Nevertheless, he gave more than one useful lesson to the landscapists who came after him, teaching them how to render the foliage of the various kinds of trees and how to characterise them more satisfactorily. His productions were very much in demand during his lifetime, and owing to his work he was able to sucessfully bring up the nine children of his two marriages. He died in 1625, and Rubens undertook the role of guardian to his children. He also painted the portrait of his friend, to be enshrined in the monument erected to his memory by his family in the church of St. George.

      His two sons were also artists. Jan treated, with less skill, the same subjects as his father, and Ambros was known as a flower painter. “Velvet” Brueghel may be considered the last of that dynasty of artists with whom the development of the Flemish school can be studied in a connected way. Between the marvellous commencement and the rapid decline of this school, there is another glorious name that deserves a place of honour. Rubens cannot exactly be classed as a landscapist and yet, in the scenery he painted when directly inspired by nature, he manifested all the originality of his universal ability. As Delacroix remarks, “Specialists, who have only one branch of work are often inferior to those who, taking in everything from a high standpoint, bring into the one branch remarkable grandeur although they may not have the same perfection of detail, Rubens and Titian, in their landscapes, are examples of this.”

      Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Hunters in the Snow (Winter), 1565.

      Oil on oak, 117 × 162 cm.

      Gemäldegalerie, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna.

      Although he loved nature passionately, Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) did not paint pure landscape until very late. We know what a beneficent and lasting influence the eight years spent in Italy (1600–1608), at the beginning of his career exercised over him. Although he certainly learnt much there, he did not change his methods. Before leaving Flanders he was in possession of the technique to which he would be faithful his whole life. He was quite aware of its excellence, and although he was constantly seeking to improve, he did not attempt to modify its essential principles. His technique was that of his predecessors, the best Antwerp painters, in particular that of the elder Bruegel, for whom he had a special admiration. Rubens had more delicacy and suppleness, but he also had the same virile qualities, the firm drawing and the clear, strong values. It will be readily understood that he reaped great benefit both from the study of the masterpieces and from his interaction with artists in Rome and at the Court of Mantua during his various visits to Italy.

      Rubens conceived, there and then, an admiration for Titian which lasted all his life. During his stay in Italy he had no leisure for studying nature. On his return to Antwerp, he was cordially welcomed by his fellow-countrymen and by those in power, and his time was very much occupied. He fully realised the benefit to be derived from a closer study of nature, and, notebook in hand, would go out for this purpose. It was all he could do, however, to get a few rough sketches of such plants for the foreground of his pictures. When, by chance, he was able to escape from the town, he delighted to express, in a picture, the impressions he had enjoyed in the country.

      Loving his work and his home, Rubens soon felt the need of having that home. He bought the house in which he lived, transformed it into a princely residence, which comprised his own studio and one for his pupils, and a rotunda built in the Italian style for his collections of every kind. These were arranged in good order and additions were constantly made to them.

      In spite of his desire to remain at this base, where there was so much to attract and fascinate him, politics, which had more than once tempted him to neglect his art, now began to absorb his attention again. The Archduchess, who appreciated his intelligence and his reliability, appealed to his devotion to undertake certain delicate missions. It was only at rare intervals that he could return to his work. His prominent position caused him all kinds of inconveniences. His talent, his kindliness, the charm of his conversation, his influential friends throughout Europe, and the artistic treasures he had accumulated in his house, attracted numerous visitors and led to the disturbance of his tranquillity. His diplomatic missions obliged him to spend several years abroad. Finally he begged the Archduchess to allow him to relinquish occupations which interfered with his art and even with his health. In order to have a more settled life, he now decided to spend the best season of the year in the country.

      In the landscapes that were directly inspired by nature, Rubens shows all the originality of his genius. The impressions he has depicted are very different from those we find in the landscapists of that epoch. Without concerning himself with them, Rubens endeavoured to express all that interested him personally in the country, but although he respected the simplicity of the subjects he chose, he did not attempt to copy them literally. Unconsciously he put into his pictures something of the epic sense within him, which elevated and transformed them.

      Velvet Brueghel (Jan Brueghel the Elder), The Vision of Saint Hubert, 1615–1630.

      Oil on wood, 63 × 100 cm.

      Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid.

      Peter Paul Rubens, Landscape with Stone Carriers, c.1620.

      Oil on canvas, 86 × 126.5 cm.

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