Synopsis
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) needs little introduction: ambitious painter, superb portraitist, sensitive observer of nature, the first writer on art theory north of the Alps, but above all, the greatest graphic artist of the Renaissance. His exploitation of the new medium of print – aesthetic, technical and entrepreneurial – gained him fame and fortune. Through his many self-portraits, drawings, watercolours and writings he affords us glimpses into his personality and preoccupations, rare for a Renaissance artist. Whether painting views of the Italian Alps, braving storms to see a beached whale in Zeeland, or recording his reactions to Aztec treasures seen in Brussels, his curiosity and zest for life are manifest in his art and writings.
This series of three webinars – conceived to complement the National Gallery’s long-awaited exhibition Dürer’s Journeys – will explore Dürer’s life and work, both at home in Nuremberg and abroad, encompassing his youthful travels in the Rhineland as a journeyman-artist, his trips to Italy as an established painter and printmaker, and his journey of 1520-21 to the Netherlands at the height of his fame.
This series of three webinars – conceived to complement the National Gallery’s long-awaited exhibition Dürer’s Journeys – will explore Dürer’s life and work, both at home in Nuremberg and abroad, encompassing his youthful travels in the Rhineland as a journeyman-artist, his trips to Italy as an established painter and printmaker, and his journey of 1520-21 to the Netherlands at the height of his fame.