Outline of my entry:
1) What I love about Pieter Brueghel:
- my first exposure to this painter was seeing "The Fall of Icarus" in a college writing class and comparing it to two poems on the painting;
- Belgian painter from the 16th century
- his paintings depict everyday life
- his subjects are usually peasants
2) The painting "Children's Games"
- every centimeter of space on canvas is filled with detail
- For instance, "Children's Games" depicts a scores of children playing on the streets of a sprawling, urban town without any adult supervision; it looks like a child's paradise where the children are free to engage with their friends, kind of like elementary school recess without any rules
4) What this painting means to me (interpretation):
- makes me realize how children in the 16th century are not that different from children in the 21st century: like to wrestle, jump around, play with sticks and rocks, chase each other, hurt each other, do headstands, tumble, swim in rivers.
- difference: not as many kids play in the street because of cars and internet and homework; children lead more isolated lives; the only time you see this many kids at a time is when they have recess at school or have field day
- perhaps town life was safer for children and simpler; now I won't even leave my children on the stoop alone to get my cell upstairs because I am afraid they will get kidnapped
- I also appreciate that not one person is still; it seems like Brueghel was struck by the activity and energy of these children because this seems to stand out
5) After reading Brueghel by Pierre Sterckx
- I want to go to Belgium and do the Brueghel tour that the children in the book do with their families: go to Sablon Square in Brussels, go to the Museum of Art where "The Fall of Icarus" is, then go to Antwerp and see the Mayer van den Bergh Museum where more of his paintings are
- maybe I will learn more about the people of his time who he painted
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