Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1526–1569) was the preeminent artist of the Dutch & Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes, executed on large canvases. His most revered and recognized painting is arguably The Tower Of Babel.

This 492 paged massive (XXL) hardcover volume comes with its own beautiful carrying cardboard case and is the first edition of Taschen’s monograph for Bruegel. It is mostly out of print and harder to locate except from select Amazon Marketplace sellers. There is also a smaller regular edition as well as a “pocket-sized” edition, which I reviewed here.

I have nothing but praises for this superlative publication by Taschen. As you can see from my photographs, the cardboard case is exquisitely designed, and the giant print size of the actual volume really shows off Bruegel’s large format paintings to spectacular effect, with enlarged sections presented on many pages. I have included a few pictures of these below for reference.

While Bruegel’s paintings are printed on a more glossy paper, his collection of drawings and copper engravings are presented on a matte, thick paper stock that has a great tactile quality and is just a joy to flip through. Really, 10/10 for the physical quality of the book, no notes.

Bruegel is a particularly fascinating artist and painter to me, because his large scale “peasant” paintings tell a thousand little stories within the same canvas, and I take great delight in exploring all the small details he has painstakingly painted. His more phantasmagorical pieces like The Fall of the Rebel Angels ( see the enlarged images further below ) feature grotesquely imaginative nightmare creatures not unlike the work of another great Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. Really, I’m a big fan, and this book delivers in droves.

(above) I was very fortunate to have seen the original painting of Bruegel’s Tower of Babel back in 2017 when it was the centerpiece for an exhibition held in Ueno, Tokyo.

Taschen has again made an art book of exceptional quality, an all-round package with fantastic reproductions of Pieter Bruegel’s masterpiece paintings. I also like the thick and durable paper stock on which his drawings and copper engravings are printed on, which makes for very comfortable browsing and appreciation of the art pieces. This one gets my highest recommendations.

First Edition (XXL) – Buy From Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon JP

“Bruegel – The Complete Works (first edition)” art book details :

– Dimensions – 12.2 x 2.36 x 18.11 inches (comes with cardboard carrying case)
– Hard cover, 492 pages
– Full color

The purchase links below are for the REGULAR EDITION, which comes in a smaller print size and does not come with a cardboard case –

Buy From Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon JP | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Amazon DE | Amazon ES

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