Drawings by Bosch: Realism and Fantasy
Heironymous Bosch, The Tree Ma n, detail, pen and ink, The Albertina, Vienna My last post of 2017 shows why ART is a better form of escapism than Star Wars . Bosch's Tree Man has body of a crab held up by tree trunk legs riding in boats. The world is not as it expected. The many who made this fantasy portrait more than 500 years ago still gets more viewers than nearly any other other artist of any time period. Why? Because he is so much fun. Two exhibitions last year celebrated the 500th anniversary of Heironymus Bosch's death. One million people were expected to visit two different exhibits, first in the Netherlands, then in Spain. The Prado exhibition was so popular that the museum extended it an extra two weeks and kept the doors open until 10 p.m. The other exhibition had been held earlier that year in Bosch's birthplace, s-Hergotenbosch . Currently, The National Gallery of Art in Washington has a show of "Dutch Drawings from Bosch to Bloemaert." Th