The Bruegel drawing that poked fun at the art market and became a 16th-century meme

His beard unkempt, his eyebrows bushy and his hat too tight, the artist stands before his work, deep in the reverie of creation. Over his shoulder another man, nearly hairless, elegantly dressed and wearing a pince-nez, examines the artist’s work. He grasps for his purse, ready to purchase.

As a popular and successful artist of the 16th-century Northern Renaissance, Pieter Bruegel the Elder was well acquainted with the inextricability of art and commerce. There is perhaps no work that more pointedly encapsulates this theme than his drawing The painter and the connoisseur. It depicts the artist subject to the whims of the near-sighted connoisseur.

On 1 February 2024, Christie’s will offer one of only four known contemporary copies of The painter and the connoisseur as part of Old Master & British Drawings in New York. Bruegel’s original drawing is part of the Albertina Museum in Vienna, home to one of the most renowned collections of drawings and prints in the world. Of the known copies, one resides in the British Museum and another is held by P. & N. de Boer Foundation in Amsterdam.

The artist and the consumer

The wizened painter depicted is too old to be considered a direct likeness of Bruegel, who was likely in his 30s at the time of drawing. He is a universal archetype: the artist, deep in focus.

But he does not exist in a vacuum. From the religious patrons who ruled the art world throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the complex network of dealers, collectors and professionals that guide the contemporary art market today, artists have long depended on the support of consumers to create their work.

In comes the connoisseur, who’s also been called the critic, buyer or client. ‘They clearly don’t live on the same plane,’ Stijn Alsteens, International Head of Old Master Drawings at Christie’s, says of the two characters in the drawing. ‘The artist is this visionary, whereas the critic is much more down to earth, ready to pay. This sensitivity to the dynamic between the artist and the non-artist has made this work the emblem it still is today.’

The existence of four known contemporary copies points to the impact to the image had on preeminent artists in Bruegel’s day. The offered copy, made in the same century as Bruegel’s original, is exceedingly faithful, further underscoring the reverence the artist held for the Flemish master. The painter and the connoisseur remains one of Bruegel’s most enduring pictures and featured in Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Bruegel elevated drawing as a medium

Bruegel is perhaps best known for having painted iconic landscapes and peasant scenes, but he was also a prolific draughtsman and print designer who recognised the artistic and commercial potential of the graphic arts. His drawings and prints became coveted collector’s items amongst Europe’s intellectual elite during his lifetime.

In Bruegel’s time, drawings were generally made as preparatory works for painting, sculpture and prints, but his own became popular works in their own right.

The ease and accessibility of drawing as a medium also lent itself to off-the-cuff expression. Hence, it no surprise that Bruegel made one of his most incisive commentaries on his critics and patrons in a drawing.

The painter and the connoisseur wryly encapsulates the economic conditions of the artist in the Northern Renaissance. Artists’ dependence on buyers intensified during the Renaissance, particularly in Bruegel’s Antwerp, which emerged as the mercantile hub of Europe.

A timeless theme

‘There is an element of humour and caricature in the drawing that clearly resonated with the public of Bruegel’s era and is still very fresh today,’ says Alsteens. Presumably intended only for private enjoyment, The painter and the connoisseur came to be widely circulated, and Bruegel’s unfiltered take on a timeless subject likely contributed to the image’s popularity amongst fellow artists.

‘These early copies indicate not only that the drawing was famous but also that is was unusual,’ says Giada Damen, a specialist in Old Master Drawings at Christie’s. ‘There aren’t many representations of artists working, especially ones that show them like this.’

Karel van Mander, the famed 16th-century biographer of the Northern Renaissance, notes that Bruegel destroyed many witty caricatures for fear that their stinging depictions would cause trouble for his wife after his death.

Artists have long critiqued art’s complex relationship with the market. From Bruegel’s iconic drawing to Maurizio Cattelan’s banana, the intersection of art and commerce is a timeless source of inspiration as well as humour. If Van Mander’s account is accurate, we’re lucky Bruegel spared The painter and the connoisseur from the flames.