Albrecht Dürer: Art and Autobiography(Renaissance Lives)

The Italian Renaissance is conventionally thought of as the historical period that bore witness to the rise of the individual. Yet no other artist of the time begins to compare with Albrecht Dürer in terms of the almost obsessive interest he displayed in depicting his life, his dreams and his surroundings in his art. Exploring Dürer’s life and times, the natural world in his work, and his studies, travel and influences, David Ekserdjian closely examines Dürer’s paintings, as well as his drawings and prints, which are often comparatively overlooked. Revealing Dürer’s remarkable, unique status, both in his own time and across the centuries, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in Renaissance or northern European art.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Life and Times 1 Man and the Natural World 2 Study, Travel and Influence 3 Paintings 4 Drawings 5 Prints Conclusion References Bibliography Acknowledgements Photo acknowledgements Index

About the Author :
David Ekserdjian is professor of the history of art and film at the University of Leicester and keeper of the university art collection. His books include The Italian Renaissance Altarpiece: Between Icon and Narrative (2021).

Review :
The eponymous subject of Ekserdjian’s deft, illuminating study is Albrecht Dürer: the German Renaissance artist who revolutionised print-making, drawing and religious painting . . . Ekserdjian’s argument is convincing, and makes for a through-line in an unusually accessible treatment of Dürer’s life and art . . . Where this book really sings, though, is when Ekserdjian delves into the detail of Dürer’s work . . . By the end, it’s hard not to agree with Ekserdjian’s estimate: Dürer really was a 'many-sided genius'. One Renaissance innovation that survives undiminished is the star artist . . . This is the case David Ekserdjian makes in Albrecht Dürer: Art and Autobiography . . . Ekserdjian recounts it all with fastidious scholarship and dry wit. David Ekserdjian . . . has now confirmed his reputation as a Renaissance man by producing a superb new monograph on an old master from north of the Alps. Albrecht Dürer: Art and Autobiography is the perfect introduction to the great pioneer of self-portraiture. The latest in Reaktion Books' excellent series of Renaissance Lives is this insightful, scholarly work by David Ekserdjian . . . Professor Ekserdjian is remarkably successful in covering Dürer's art without sacrificing his own personal fluency of literary style . . . One feels reassuringly in the hands of a discerning expert rather than a panegyrist . . . when the author's personal perspective shines through (and he is academically reticent in this), it is delightful . . . an admirable addition to an estimable series. Dürer, writes David Ekserdjian, in an illuminating and engaging short survey of his life and achievements, was unique among contemporary artists in the ‘almost obsessive interest’ he displayed in him-self . . . there is value, too, in the more traditional vein of art-historical scholarship represented by Ekserdjian’s book, which conveys a lucid sense of Dürer’s challenging proto-modernity, drawing a line to Lucian Freud and Norman Rockwell. Ekserdjian’s lively account of the great Renaissance artist from Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer, shows how his art and autobiography continue to resound across the centuries. Dürer’s fascination with the world around him, whether an elaborate costume study, the brilliant blue of a bird’s wing or the distorted angle of a man’s face, is transferred into narrative prints that have inspired artists from Velázquez to Lucian Freud and remain mesmerizing today. David Ekserdjian’s book on the life and work of Albrecht Dürer portrays the artist vividly and sets him in his historical, artistic and intellectual context. Ekserdjian builds on the fundaments of sources in a comprehensive sense: Dürer's works in prints, drawings and paintings and, equally, his autobiographical and art-theoretical writings. Elegantly written, this book is pure pleasure to read.