Bruegel: Drawing the World

Through 100 works, this exhibition presents the entire spectrum of Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s drawn and printed oeuvre and seeks to shed light on his artistic origins by juxtaposing his output with high-quality works by important predecessors such as Bosch and Dürer. Included are around 20 of the Dutch artist’s most beautiful drawings from the museum’s own holdings as well as from international collections. Bruegel’s drawings, done on the eve of the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule and amidst an era of political, social, and religious transformations, conjure up a complex pictorial world. Bruegel reflects on social conditions in a way that is humorous, perceptive, and deeply critical. Furthermore, numerous printed treasures – sought out and painstakingly restored at the Albertina – are being shown for the first time. Find out more about the Bruegel exhibition from the Albertina’s website.

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Big Fish eats Little Fish (1556), Pieter Bruegel the Elder. © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Large Alpine Landscape (1555–56), Pieter Bruegel the Elder (engraved by Jan and Lucas van Duetecum). © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

Spring (1565), Pieter Bruegel the Elder. © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

The Ass at School (1557), Pieter Bruegel the Elder (engraved by Pieter van der Heyden). © The Albertina Museum, Vienna

The Kermis of Saint George (c. 1559), Pieter Bruegel the Elder (engraved by Jan and Lucas van Duetecum). © The Albertina Museum, Vienna