Fresh Paint: Brueghel Revisited by Anne Simpson

Abstract

Anne Simpson’s “Seven Paintings by Brueghel” is a crown of sonnets, a specific way of exploring the possibilities of the sonnet as a fixed form. Rather than dwelling on the noble history of this technical exploit, though, we are to observe the relation between Simpson’s text and the paintings by Brueghel she draws ideas from. We intend to examine in detail how Simpson paints her own images over Brueghel’s, while never losing sight of the Flemish painter’s stark imagery. Also important for our paper will be trying to find a common thread uniting the paintings, as well as the treatment given to Brueghel’s work by other authors.