Friday, December 12, 2008

Meditation on Bare Trees

Went up to the Public Library at 42nd Street this morning to see the fascinating Yaddo exhibition.
Such very tall buildings in Midtown.




Two winter images from Pieter Breughel the Elder.

What biting cold. How damp the houses must have been.

How stunningly beautiful the northern winter.

16 comments:

  1. I've never seen this artist. They are beautiful depitcions, you can see so much about life then, and the little town. Many details for the eye to linger on.

    Ice storm in MA. I don't know how our settlers did it. I can't get a tomato plant to live or bear much fruit, how did they come over with seeds and make it work (I guess that's where the indians came in). No 7Elevens to run out to in case the crop didn't quite succeed!

    It even snowed here in Houston two nights ago. It's been in the 30's after sundown. I miss the East coast and was in heaven. Today though, we creep back up to 60... I don't mind that advantage in March, but I want my holidays COLD!

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  2. Pieter Breughel the Elder was a camera. I can't imagine the coldness in those houses.

    Once upon a time we moved from Los Angeles to Wisconsin in late October. Our new neighbors chuckled at us as they prepared for winter and we were so clueless about living in a cold place.

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  3. Shiver! There's a reason I chose to live in Southern California! Those old houses must have radiated cold; it make my bones hurt to think about it.

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  4. these are wonderful! and yes, damp houses I'm sure!

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  5. Like the work of Brueghel the Elder much more than his son a.k.a. Hell Brueghel. Very cold in Idaho but someone else has our snow. Thanks for the reminders that winter landscapes can be colorful.

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  6. I've always loved those winter scenes of Breughel. So detailed. And your opening photo is fab!

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  7. oh i LOVE those paintings. Hunters in the snow is one of my favorite paintings in the world...

    see it here
    http://www.penwith.co.uk/artofeurope/bruegel_hunters_in_the_snow.jpg

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  8. Thanks for sharing this . I am so glad to have found your blog.I hope you have wonderful holidays.

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  9. I love everything I see here. ;-)

    Paz

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  10. The paintings are beautiful. The only time I see bare trees are the dead ones here, but it must be nice to see the trees going through different climates. Does look chilly there, stay warm :)

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  11. Hello Elizabeth,

    When you see those beautiful Brueghel paintings, don't you wonder whether he painted them during the warmer, lighter summer months? I often wonder about how masterpieces from earlier times actually were created.

    Don't we take our modern heat and light for granted ... written as I hear fierce wind from outside my windows.

    xo

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  12. Ahhh my dear Elizabeth, Brueghel the Younger and also the Elder are some of my favorite painters, as are other Flemish/Dutch painters like Vermeer and Bosch. Bosch's Triptych "The Temptation of Saint Anthony" intrigues me since the first day I visited it at the National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon when I was about 14.

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  13. Pieter Breughel the Elde - I love him and have neer heard of him. Thanks for the introduction and thanks for reminding me to look up in this ginormous city!

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  14. Thank you, Elizabeth,
    for showing us these beautiful scenes from New York and European winter! :-)

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  15. I always love photos 'looking up'.

    The paintings are charming.

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I look forward to hearing from you!