Author Description

Albrecht Dürer is the most significant and admired artist of the northern Renaissance. Tracing his work and influence from his earliest career to his powerful posthumous role within German culture, this richly illustrated book surveys all of the artist's best-known prints as well as numerous drawings and watercolors. The catalogue of a greatly anticipated exhibition of Dürer's work in England--including loans of many precious works rarely seen by the public--the volume features 85 color and 267 black-and-white illustrations. It follows Dürer's career from his first work in the medieval tradition of Martin Schongauer, through his Italian education in the classical tradition, to his sophisticated development of the woodcut and engraving techniques that changed the history of printmaking. The book examines Dürer's long-lived influence, from the obsession of artists and collectors with his work during the late sixteenth century to the iconic status he acquired amid the rise of German nationalism in the nineteenth. It considers how the popularity of his images migrated into a range of materials as diverse as porcelain and banknotes. This assessment of his art and legacy concludes with a contemplation of Dürers famous print, Melancholia, written by the Nobel Prize-winning German novelist Günter Grass, himself a printmaker. Offering a much-needed fresh look at the work of a major Renaissance artist, this handsome book is certain to deepen the broad international appreciation that Dürer's work already enjoys. EXHIBITION SCHEDULE The British Museum December 5, 2002 - March 23, 2003