Prints of Albrecht Dürer: Selections from the National Gallery of Canada |
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| Wednesday, 10 December 2008 02:15 |
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WINNIPEG, MB - As the Italian Renaissance spread north, one of the key figures in its dissemination was German artist Albrecht Dürer. The Prints of Albrecht Dürer: Selections from the National Gallery of Canada, opening at The Winnipeg Art Gallery on December 11, shows why his woodcuts and engravings were instrumental in establishing his fame as one of the greatest printmakers. Drawn from the National Gallery of Canada's significant collection of Dürer prints, the 50 works in this exhibition are representative of the artist's entire career.
The selection demonstrates the masterful range of Dürer's printmaking genius and his innovative approach to subject matter and execution. Among the celebrated prints included are The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1496–98), Saint Eustace (1501), Nemesis (The Great Fortune) (1502), Adam and Eve (1504), the sixteen Engraved Passion series (1507–13), The Knight, Death and the Devil (1513), Melancholia (1514), and Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony (1524). The Prints of Albrecht Dürer: Selections from the National Gallery of Canada is supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canada Travelling Exhibitions Indemnification Program. Media sponsor: Winnipeg Free Press. More information on all WAG exhibitions and programs can be found at www.wag.mb.ca. Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was born and worked most of his life in Nuremberg, a thriving centre of printmaking and book illustration at the time. Here he learned the craft in the studio of Michael Wolgemut, a painter well known for his woodcut illustrations. Intrigued by artistic developments in Italy, Dürer travelled to Venice in 1494–95 and in 1505–07. Both visits had a profound impact on his art and printmaking. He began to explore the secrets of perspective and to wed ideals of beauty, proportion and harmony to a northern European taste for realism and detail. Widely distributed during his lifetime, his woodcuts and engravings remain compelling today as images of astonishing originality of invention, iconographic complexity and technical virtuosity. 
