ALBRECHT DÜRER. At the Albertina Museum. - a podcast by CastYourArt.com

ALBRECHT DÜRER. At the Albertina Museum.
The stock of approximately 140 drawings and watercolors in the Albertina is the largest collection of Albrecht Dürer artworks worldwide.

The show, including several international loans, contains more than 200 exhibits, among them paintings, prints and drawings, among them the famous Young Hare, the iconic Praying Hands, the Great Piece of Turf or Wing of a European Roller, the poster and catalogue motif of the exhibition.

The Albertina museum managed to obtain important loans, such as The Adoration of the Magi from the Uffizi in Florence, the Nude Self Portrait from the Schlossmuseum Weimar, the Martyrdom of the Ten Thousand from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Jesus among the Doctors from the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection Madrid or Saint Jerome from the Mational Museum Lisbon, including some preliminary studies.

At the beginning of the chronological and thematically structured exhibition there is a remarkable and masterful self portrait, drawn by the artist with silverpoint at the early age of thirteen.

As the exhibition curator, Durer specialist Christof Metzger demonstrates, artworks like Young Hare, the Great Piece of Turf or Wing of a European Roller were not meant for sale or or studies for paintings, instead they served as showpieces for the workshop, proving the artist‘s skill and virtuosity to potential clients.

A closer look into the eyes of the Young Hare -with its breathtakingly accurate depiction of the fur- reveals the reflection of a window in the pupil, lending a vivid aura to the enigmatic animal. It is one of the highlights in the exhibition, since the first time in 1871, the light-sensitive watercolor painting has only been on public display for nine times.
The life of the artist is surprisingly well documented by letters, diaries, essays written by Durer, and also a family chronicle.
Born in 1471 in Nuremberg, Durer received training as a goldsmith, like his father. At an early age he already became well known as a master of woodcut and etching. After staying in Colmar, Strasbourg, Frankfurt and Venice he established himself in his native town of Nuremberg where he built a reputation for himself, initially as a print artist. He founded his workshop after marrying his wealthy wife Agnes Frey who he portrayed in a touching drawing, also on display in the Albertina.

Another showpiece of the workshop, the famous devotional picture Praying Hands of 1508, at first included the sketch of the head of an apostle, meant for an altar. But eventually the paper was cut and the praying hands would become famous in the version we are so familiar with today.
The showpieces came to Vienna by means of Durer’s first collector, Nuremberg merchant Willibald Imhoff and then emperor Rudolf II to Vienna’s National Library - and finally to Duke Albert of Saxony-Teschen and the collection of the Albertina.
The exhibition is open until January 6, 2020. (written by Cem Angeli)
Albertina Museum | www.albertina.at
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