Because the world is so faithless, I go my way in mourning.

—Pieter Bruegel

From 2009:

I am totally in awe of the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the patriarch of the great Flemish family of painters. There are so many paintings of his that I could show that would be equal to those I chose for this post but I find these particular pieces striking. There is great richness and depth as well as a tremendous warmth in his colors. I always feel enveloped in his paintings as though they wrap around me like a blanket, particularly his peasant pieces.

This piece here on the right depicting the Tower of Babel has always excited my imagination beyond the actual biblical story. I’m always reminded of the Gormenghast Trilogy from Mervyn Peake when I see this image and wonder if it had any influence when he was formulating the story for his novels. The scale of the building and the way it dominates the composition is breathtaking. The shape of the tower and the manner in which it dominates the composition has shown up in some of my paintings in the form of a tower-like hill.

His earlier allegorical works seem to have been heavily influenced by Hieronymous Bosch and have incredible energy. He had an ability to take multitudes of forms and scenarios and bring them together in a way that had great rhythm, lending almost an abstract quality to the overall scene. I find these paintings quite beautiful despite their sometimes jolting imagery. This work was an influence on my later Multitudes work that was comprised of masses of faces.

I could look at his work for hours and find new details to focus on, new dimensions to coopt and explore in my own work. Even writing this short post is taking a long time because I just want to stop and look at his work. I find it truly inspiring and wonder how it will find its way into my own work someday. Somehow.  Maybe…

I am replaying this blog entry from 2009 (with a couple of new comments in italics that give examples of how Bruegel’s work has been an influence) because I had a comment at Saturday’s Gallery Talk from another artist who said that my work reminded him of Bruegel and some other Flemish and Dutch painters. It kind of left me gobsmacked because I didn’t necessarily see it myself. But thinking about it later, his work certainly was an influence and could easily show itself to another’s eyes.