OUR FIRST LIVE ONLINE AUCTION!
BRUEGHEL THE ELDER, Pieter, A Fleet Of Galleys Escorted By A Caravel (circa 1561-2)
Pieter Brueghel (1525-69), usually known as Pieter Brueghel the Elder to distinguish him from his elder son, was the first in a family of Flemish p… [Read biography »]
Signed Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525 - 1569), Original Engraving & Etching, A Fleet Of Galleys Escorted By A Caravel (circa 1561-2)  |
Place your cursor over the thumbnails below to view the full-size image:
| Artist: | Brueghel the Elder, Pieter (1525 - 1569) |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Fleet Of Galleys Escorted By A Caravel (circa 1561-2) |
| Medium: | Original Engraving & Etching |
| Image Size: | 11 3/8 in X 8 1/4 in (29 cm X 22.3 cm) |
| Sheet Size: | 11.5 in x 8.5 in (29.2 cm x 21.6 cm) |
| Framed Size: | 26 1/4 in X 23 1/4 in (66.68 cm X 59.06 cm) |
| Signed: | The Signature Of Bruegel Is Inscribed In The Lower Right: 'Breugel' With 'F.H.' In The Lower Left. In The Text Box Along The Lower Margin, ' Cum Priuileg' Is Inscribed In The Lower Right |
| Edition: | From The First State Of Three, Featuring The SII With Flower Watermark (Briquet 9696) Dating The Work's Creation To 1572-4 |
| Condition: | This Work Is In Great Condition - A Fine, Dark Impression And Has Had Some Minor Conservation |
Price :Item# 1804 | $12,500 To speak directly with the Director, Alex Adelman, please call (510) 777-9970 / 1-800-805-7060. |
| Description: | |
One of several etchings and engravings of sailboats and ships out at sea, A Fleet of Galleys Escorted by a Caravel is one of Bruegel's finest. His mastery with the burin and love for intaglio printing processes is evident with this work. From each, individual rivet on the cannons to the small, leaf pattern seen in the flags at the top of the mast, Bruegel's attention to detail here is astounding. Shaded so these boats appear monumental in form and scale, it is as if we were out to sea with them, part of this fleet being "escorted by a caravel." By definition, a caravel is typically a small, Portuguese or Spanish sailing vessel dating from the Middle Ages or later usually equipped with two or three masts. Created in c. 1561-2, this work is from the first state of three engraved by Frans Huys after an original drawing by Pieter Bruegel. Inscribed at the lower left: ·F ·H and at the lower right breugel, there is also along the text box in the lower margin, · Cum · priuileg inscribed in the lower right. Catalogue Raisonné & COA: 1. Bastelaer, René van. The Prints of Peter Bruegel the Elder, Catalogue Raisonné New Edition, Alan Wofsy Fine Arts: San Francisco, 1992. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 107 on pg. 125. 2. Briquet, C.M. Les Filigranes Dictionnaire Historique des Marques du Papier, tome troisième L - O, Verlag von Karl W. Hiersemann: Leipzig, 1923. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 9696, detailed on pg. 508. 3. Orenstein, Nadine M., ed. for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints, Yale University Press: New Haven, 2001. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 93 on pgs. 214-5. About the Framing: | |
| Style: | Old master |
Biography of Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525 - 1569)
Pieter Brueghel (1525-69), usually known as Pieter Brueghel the Elder to distinguish him from his elder son, was the first in a family of Flemish painters. You'll often find his name spelled as Bruegel (Pieter spelled it like that from 1559 onwards) or Breugel or Breughel.
He was born in Breda in the Duchy of Brabant, which is now part of The Netherlands but back then part of the Flanders.
Note: Flanders or Vlaanderen and the Netherlands (aka known as Holland) or Nederland share the same language. It's called Flemish, or "Vlaams" in Belgium and Dutch, or "Nederlands" in The Netherlands. And the name Holland, although it's often taken to mean the whole of the Netherlands, is really part of that country only, the area of the provinces called Zuid Holland and Noord Holland (South and North Holland).
Brueghel was accepted as a master in the Antwerp painters' guild in 1551, after being an apprentice of Coecke van Aelst, a leading Antwerp artist, sculptor, architect, and designer of tapestry and stained glass. Brueghel traveled to Italy in 1551 or 1552, completing a number of paintings, mostly landscapes, there. Returning home in 1553, he settled in Antwerp but ten years later moved permanently to Brussels. He married van Aelst's daughter, Mayken, in 1563. His paintings, including his landscapes and scenes of peasant life, stress the absurd and vulgar, yet are full of zest and fine detail. They also expose human weaknesses and follies. He was sometimes called the Peasant Brueghel. But it was in nature that he found his greatest inspiration. His mountain landscapes have few parallels in European art. Popular in his own day, Bruegel engravings and paintings have remained consistently popular. Brueghel died in Brussels on Sept. 9, 1569.
