Liars and Loopholes: Beggars

Pieter Bruegel
Liars and Loopholes
Subterfuge in Art
Curated by Tessia Phillips

Pieter Bruegel, Beggars, 1568

Beggars by Pieter Bruegel is less a visual cheat, and more of a social cheat. Bruegel adored peasants. He found them adorable, like a puppy or baby or American tourist. Though very wealthy, he used to dress up like a peasant so as to spend time with them and learn about their customs, lifestyles, and traditions. This was not to expand his social tolerance, however, but rather for his own entertainment, as he found them laughable.

This work heightens the vulnerability of beggars to make them almost comical. With peg legs and open-mouthed expressions, these beggars are barely functional, and made so to highlight their hilarity in Bruegel’s eyes. His loophole lies in his ability to turn a raging superiority complex into famous artwork. I’m definitely impressed by that aspect of this work. Bruegel fits in this collection beautifully in that he first lied to an entire class of people about his social status, then proceeded to make a fortune off of their exploitation.
  • 7:00 PM

The Beggars

Brennan DePew
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Beggars, 1568
I am disturbed by this painting. The pain bleeds raw emotion through Bruegel's strokes. These men are at the absolute, ultimate bottom. Emotional, physical, and societal turmoil bombards them on all fronts. Degraded even further, the five parade around in a circuitous spectacle. They are ignored by the passerby, who keeps his head down, staring at the object in his hands. Ignored and ridiculed, disfigured and degraded, they represent the lowest a human can sink.

A closer look at the headwear of these figures reveals a layer of Bruegel's token social critique. The leftmost beggar wears a paper crown, and following to the right: a paper shako as worn by the soldiers of the day, a beret to represent the bourgeois, a simple cap typical of a peasant, and a bishop's mitre. Bruegel uses this attire, placed upon such lowly individuals, to comment of the equality of man and the futility of class structure. Beneath any social standing hides a the soul of a human, however hideous that might be.

  • 7:00 AM