From Bruegel to Rembrandt

From Bruegel to Rembrandt 

at Compton Verney, Warwickshire.

Drawings made by over 50 different artists in the Netherlands, in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The artists approached the task in three main ways: drawing from life or from direct observation;  drawing from the mind;  drawing from memory.

Jacques de Gheyn II, Four Srudies of a nude woman combing her hair, 1602-03, (black chalk, pen and iron gall ink)

Ferdinand Bol, Woman sitting in front of a mirror, 1635-50 (pen and brown ink, brown wash, sporadic black chalk)

Bol was one of Rembrandt's best pupils and his early drawings, like this one, were highly influenced by the master.

Unknown student or follower of Rembrandt Harmensz, van Rijn, Sleeping Woman, 1635-70

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Head of a man wearing a pointed beard and a cap, 1647, (black chalk)

Cornelis de Vos, Studies of a child, (black and red chalk)

Landscapes:

The transition from fantasy to naturalism within Netherlandish drawing can easily be seen in landscapes. In the 16th century, landscape started to be recognised as its own genre, rather than as a backdrop to a narrative scene. From the beginning of the century, depictions of landscapes primarily derived from an artist's own imagination, often informed by works by Italian masters, such as Titian. The growing interest in naturalism from the end of the 16th century affected landscape drawing as artists increasingly left their studios to study the natural world up-close.

Seeing the drawings in the next two sections, made me sooo homesick for Amsterdam.

Jan Brueghel the Elder, Forest path with a horse-drawn carriage crossing a ford, 1600-1615, (pen and brush in brown, blue, dark grey and redk ink...)

Pieter Stevens, The flight into Egypt, 1600

Roelandt Savery, Rocky landscape with woods, crossed by a river and a torrent, 1607-08

Henrdrick Averdamp, River landscape, 1625

Hendrick Avercamp, Study of a fisherman bringing in his net

Hendrick Avercamp, Study of a man seen from behind


Village and City Life:

Hans Bol, Ring jousting in front of a pond in an imaginary city, 1593

Abraham Bloemaert, The backgammon game

Adriaen van Ostade, Interior of an inn, 1680

Jan Brueghel the Elder, Study with figures, horses and carts, 1602

Jan Brueghel the Elder, Villages going to the market, 1605-20

Esaias van de Velde, View of a Village, 1624-25

Frans Post, a village in Brazil, 1652

Maria Sybilla Merian, Branch of a guava tree with Army Ants, Pink-Toe Taraabtulas, Huntsman Spiders and Ruby-Tobas Hummingbird, 1702--3

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, An old lady supported by a young girl, 1642

Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, The meeting of Rebecca and Eliezer at the well, 1661, (oil on canvas)

Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, The meeting of Eliezar and Rebecca, 1661

Pieter Huys, The descent into Limbo, 1547-1577, (oil on panel)