BRUEGELOCTOBER 2, 2018 - JANUARY 13, 2019

At the beginning of October, the Kunsthistorisches Museum willopen the first-ever major monograph show dedicated to thegreatest Netherlandish painter of the sixteenth century: PieterBruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30‒1569). The exhibitioncommemorates the 450th anniversary of his death.

During his lifetime, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was already amongthe period’s most sought-after artists, with his works achievingexceptionally high prices. Only about forty paintings and sixtyprints by him are all that has come down to us. The twelve panelsin the Kunsthistorisches Museum are by far the largest collectionof Bruegels in the world, a fact we owe to 16th century Habsburgconnoisseurs who already appreciated the exceptional quality ofhis works and strove to acquire these prestigious paintings.

Bruegel revolutionised landscape and genre painting, and hiscompositions continue to elicit varied and controversialinterpretations. The depth and breadth of his pictorial world andthe perceptive powers of observation he employs in his depictionsof quotidian life continue to fascinate all who encounter hisworks.

A once-in-a-lifetime exhibition

Museums and private collectors count Bruegel’s works amongtheir most precious and fragile possessions. Most of the panelshave never been loaned for an exhibition. By bringing togetherover 90 works by the master, the exhibition in Vienna hasassembled for the very first time a comprehensive overview ofBruegel’s oeuvre: comprising around 30 panel paintings (i.e. three-quarters of extant paintings) and almost half of his preserveddrawings and prints, the show offers visitors a once-in-a-lifetimeopportunity to immerse themselves in the artist’s complexpictorial world, to study his stylistic development and his creativeprocess, and to get to know his method of work, his pictorialhumour and his unique narrative powers.

The highlights in the exhibition include, for example, TheHaymaking from the Lobkowicz Collections, Prague, View of theBay of Naples from the Galleria Doria Pamphilij in Rome, TwoMonkeys from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, The Triumph ofDeath from the Prado in Madrid, Dulle Griet from the MuseumMayer van de Berg in Antwerp, The Tower of Babel from theMuseum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, The Adorationof the Magi in the Snow from the Collection Oskar Reinhard 'AmRömerholz' in Winterthur, The Adoration of the Magi from theNational Gallery in London, the drawings The Beekeepers fromthe Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, and The Painter and theConnoisseur from the Albertina in Vienna.

Bruegel’s works will be arranged both chronologically and bytheme, allowing visitors to study and appreciate his stylisticdevelopment and the impressive variety of his oeuvre. Thegalleries will showcase both his masterpieces and series andgroups reunited for the first time in centuries; in the smalleradjoining rooms we present the findings of recent comprehensivetechnological analyses, offering profound insights into the works’evolution. We look at both Bruegel’s artistic beginnings as adraughtsman and graphic artist, and his innovations and vitalcontributions to the evolution of landscape painting. One sectionof the show will focus on his religious works, bringing togethernumerous masterpieces including The Triumph of Death andDulle Griet, both especially restored for this exhibition.

For the first time, Christ carrying the Cross, his largest panel andone that has also retained its original format, will be on showunframed and displayed so that both its back and front are visible– as though visitors were looking over the painter’s shoulder,seeing and appreciating the fragility of the wooden support andhow it was constructed, and the outstanding quality of handlingand paint layer, their perfection being one of the reasons Bruegel’spaintings have survived four and a half centuries.

A smaller room showcases works featuring a wealth of miniature-like details and looks at Bruegel’s training as a miniaturist; itsfocal point will be the first-ever confrontation of both depictionsof The Tower of Babel since they were in the collection ofEmperor Rudolf II.

A selection of contemporary artefacts depicted in Battle betweenCarnival and Lent invites visitors to appreciate the wealth ofdetails included in these compositions, to comprehend themeaning of the individual scenes, and to appreciate Bruegel’sunrivalled skill in capturing the material quality of depictedobjects. We also question the painting’s traditional moralisticinterpretation and showcase Bruegel’s perceptiveness as a socialcritic.

Using Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap and Massacre of theInnocents as our starting point, we look at Bruegel and hisworkshop.

The final gallery presents Bruegel’s late works, offering a nuancedlook at the artist long called 'Peasant Bruegel'. In addition toPeasant Wedding and Peasant Dance, the show includes his'legacy-painting' The Magpie on the Gallows. The show’s finalhighlight is the first-ever juxtaposition of The Birdnester and themonumental drawing The Beekeepers.

The Bruegel Research Project

In 2012 and with the support of the Getty Foundation as part ofits Panel Paintings Initiative, the Kunsthistorisches Museumbegan a comprehensive technological analysis of its twelve panelpaintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Most recent research

studied the Brueghel dynasty, i.e. the works produced by themaster’s sons and his workshop, but our scientific focus is firmlyon the founder of the dynasty and his creative process. We lookat how his panels were constructed, at his brushwork andtechnique, at the history of materials and the works’ provenance.

Our research project is conceived as an essential component ofthe study and scholarly research of Bruegel’s oeuvre. Experts onNetherlandish painting meet regularly in Vienna to discuss thelatest findings.

The extremely interesting findings of the technological analyses ofthe panel paintings document and reveal the master’s creativeprocess. X-ray and infrared images, pigment analyses and 3D-photographs of the paintings were produced in the PaintingsConservation Studio of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Theseanalyses have, for example, revealed little-known drawingsbeneath the paint layer that have never been studied in depth. Ourmost recent findings have informed both the exhibition and thecatalogue. The technical studies funded by the Getty also help usunderstand how the wooden supports used by Bruegel havechanged over time. This will inform the care of the paintings forthe future, including conservation treatment. Even after theexhibition ends, a free website www.insidebruegel.net will for thefirst time offer profound insights into the paintings of PieterBruegel the Elder based on the most recent technological analysesof his works. Here visitors can interact with the master’s picturesusing state-of-the-art technology, navigate the collection and studyBruegel’s complex pictorial world in unrivalled detail.

www.bruegel2018.at

The curators of the exhibition:

Elke Oberthaler: Head of the Paintings Conservation Studio,Picture Gallery, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Sabine Pénot: Curator of Netherlandish and Dutch Paintings,Picture Gallery, Kunsthistorisches Museum

Manfred Sellink: General Director and Head Curator,Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (KMSKA), Antwerp,Belgium; Professor of Art History, University of Gent, Belgium

Ron Spronk: Professor of Art History, Queen’s University,Canada; Hieronymus Bosch Chair, Radboud Universiteit,Nijmegen, the Netherlands

Research AssistanceAlice Hoppe-Harnoncourt

Lenders

Albertina, ViennaAshmolean Museum, University of OxfordBayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich, Alte PinakothekBibliothèque royale de Belgique /

Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, BrusselsThe British Museum, LondonThe Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, LondonThe Trustees of the Chatsworth SettlementFondation Custodia, Collection Frits Lugt, ParisThe Frick Collection, New YorkGalleria Doria Pamphilj, Trust Doria Pamphilj, RomeHessisches Landesmuseum, DarmstadtThe Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague CastleMusée du Louvre, ParisMusées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique /

Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België, BrusselsMuseo Nacional del Prado, MadridMuseum Boijmans Van Beuningen, RotterdamMuseum Mayer van den Bergh, AntwerpThe National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery of Art, WashingtonUpton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)

The Phoebus Foundation, AntwerpRijksmuseum, AmsterdamSwiss Confederation, Federal Office for Culture, Collection Oskar Reinhart ‘Am Römerholz’, WinterthurStaatliche Kunstsammlungen DresdenStaatliche Museen zu BerlinUniversiteit Leiden, PrentenkabinetPrivate Collections

Cooperation Partner

ALMA, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, RotterdamBokrijk Museum, GenkThe Getty Foundation, Los AngelesKIK-IRPA, BrusselsKoninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, AntwerpThe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkQueen’s University, Kingston, OntarioRoyal Collection, LondonTU Vienna, Institut für Konstruktionswissenschaften

und technische LogistikUniversum Digitalis, BrusselsVrije Universiteit Brussel, BrusselsVlaamse Kunstcollectie, Ghent

Exhibition designTilo Perkmann and architettura21 ZTGmbH, Serenella Zoppolat

PRESSPHOTOGRAPHS

Press photographs are available in the press section of our websitefree of charge, for your topical reporting: http://press.khm.at/.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Haymaking1565, oak panel, 114 × 158 cmPrague, The Lobkowicz Collections, Lobkowicz Palace, Prague Castle© The Lobkowicz Collections

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)Dulle Griet1563, panel, 117.4 × 162 cmAntwerp, Museum Mayer van den Bergh© Museum Mayer van den Bergh

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Triumph of DeathProbably after 1562, wood 117 × 162 cmMadrid, Museo Nacional del Prado© Museo Nacional del Prado

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)Two Monkeys1562, oak, 19.8 × 23.3 cmStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie© Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie / Christoph Schmidt

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Suicide of Saul1562, oak panel, 33.5 × 55 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)View of the Bay of Naplesc. 1563?, panel, 42.2 × 71.2 cmRome, Galleria Doria Pamphilj© Rome, Galleria Doria Pamphilj

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Battle between Carnival and Lent1559, oak panel, 118 × 164,5 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)Children’s Games1560, oak panel, 118 × 161 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)Christ Carrying the Cross1564, oak panel, 124 × 170 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Tower of Babel1563, oak panel, 114 × 155 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Tower of Babelafter 1563?, oak panel, 59,9 × 74,6 cmRotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen© Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Photograph: Studio Tromp, Rotterdam

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Return of the Herd1565, oak, 117 × 159 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)Peasant Weddingc. 1567, oak panel, 114 × 164 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)Peasant Dancec. 1568, oak panel, 114 × 164 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Gloomy Day1565, oak panel, 118 × 163 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)Hunters in the Snow1565, oak panel, 117 × 162 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Adoration of the Magi in the Snow1563, wood, 35 × 55 cmSwiss Confederation, Federal Office for Culture, Collection Oskar Reinhart ‘Am Römerholz’, Winterthur© Collection Oskar Reinhart ʻAm Römerholzʼ, Winterthur

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Conversion of Saul1567, oak, 108 × 156 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Birdnester1568, oak panel, 59.3 x 68.3 cmKunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Picture Gallery© KHM-Museumsverband

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Adoration of the Magi1564, oak panel, 112.1 × 83.9 cmLondon, The National Gallery© The National Gallery, London 2018

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Beekeepersc. 1568, pen and brown ink, 203 × 309 mmStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett© Foto: Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin – PreußischerKulturbesitz, Foto: Jörg P. Anders

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Painter and the Connoisseurc. 1565, pen and brown ink, 203 × 309 mmVienna, Albertina© The Albertina Museum Vienna

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)The Temptation of Saint Anthonyc. 1556, pen and brush and brown and greybrown ink215 (right) / 216 (left) × 326 mmOxford, The Ashmolean Museum, Bequeathed by Frances Douce, 1834© Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel the ElderBig Fish Eat Little Fish1557, engraving, 230 × 296 mm, first state of fourVienna, Albertina© Vienna, Albertina

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525/30 Breugel or Antwerp? – 1569 Brussels)View of the Ripa Grande in Romec. 1555/56, pen and red-brown and dark brown ink, 207 × 283 mmOxford, The Ashmolean Museum, Bequeathed by Frances Douce, 1834Chatsworth, The Trustees of the Chatsworth Settlement© Devonshire Collection, ChatsworthReproduced by permission of Chatsworth Settlement Trustees

WEBSITE

A comprehensive website offers information on the artist and onthe special exhibition incl. everything you need to know whenplanning your visit and information on the research project.

www.bruegel2018.at

SYMPOSIUM

CATALOGUE

The Hand of the MasterMaterials and Techniques of Pieter Bruegel the ElderDecember 6 ‒ 8, 2018, Kunsthistorisches Museum Viennawww.bruegelthehandofthemaster2018.org

Bruegel. The Hand of the Master (Museum edition)Elke Oberthaler, Sabine Pénot, Manfred Sellink,Ron Spronk, Alice Hoppe-Harnoncourtedited by Sabine HaagVienna 2018Paperback, 304 pages€ 39,95ISBN 978-3-99020-175-6 (English)

The printed catalogue is complemented by an e-book containing five essayson Pieter Bruegel the Elder and his artistic oeuvre, focusing on the Bruegelcollection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum with particular reference toprovenance, conservation history and past art-historical research.

OPENING HOURSANDENTRANCE FEES

Kunsthistorisches MuseumMaria-Theresien-Platz1010 Vienna

MUSEUM OPENING HOURS DURING ‘BRUEGEL’Open daily from 10 am to 6 pm,Thu until 9 pmExclusive opening on Friday evenings (entry with the special ticket ‘Anevening with Bruegel’) 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm

ENTRANCE FEES INCL. TIME SLOT

Adults € 20Vienna City Card € 19Concessions € 16Groups (of 10 or over) € 16Children and teens under 19 freeSkip-the-Line Ticket € 30Annual ticket € 44*Annual Ticket under 25 € 25*‘An evening with Bruegel’ € 49Guided Tours € 4Audio guide (10 languages) € 5

* Get your free timeslot ticket at every cash desk in the museum upon availability.

Tickets and timeslots can be purchased here:https://shop.khm.at/en/tickets/bruegel

AN EVENINGWITH BRUEGEL

GUIDED ENGLISHTOURS

Every Friday6.30 pm – 8.30 pmEnjoy an extraordinary evening at the special exhibition Bruegel including aguided tour and a champagne reception. A small gift rounds off a perfectevening at the magnificent Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.

Thur 5 pm, Sat 2 pmDuration: approximately 60 minutesMeeting point: Entrance hallParticipation with valid ticket to the Bruegel exhibition and ticket forthe guided tour

VIDEO

For videos about our exhibitions and series of talks as well as otherlectures and interviews please go to the YouTube channel of theKunsthistorisches Museum: www.youtube.com/user/KHMWien

INSTAGRAM UNDFACEBOOK

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook and get the latest newsabout the upcoming exhibition and our programme of eventsand lectures.#kunsthistorischesmuseum #bruegel2018 #flemishfriday

PRESS CONTACT

Nina Auinger-Sutterlüty, MAS (Head of Press and PR)Mag. Sarah AistleitnerT +43 1 525 24 - 4021 /- 4025info.pr@khm.at

KHM-MuseumsverbandWissenschaftliche Anstalt öffentlichen RechtsBurgring 5, 1010 Viennawww.khm.at