To close one’s eyes and think of Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) is to see things—whether the iconic self-portrait of 1500 in which he presents himself in the guise of Christ, the watercolor of a piece of turf in which he elevates the ground under our feet to the status of artistic motif, or the ubiquitous engraving of our first parents in the nude, the culmination of his studies of human proportion and at the same time proof that an artist of his caliber has no need of color to surpass nature itself. The degree to which an artist’s impact extends beyond the elite circles of art aficionados is measured by his or her presence outside the well-tempered spaces of the museum. Reproductions of Albrecht Dürer’s pictorial creations are found in nearly every imaginable place, from schoolbooks to the bedrooms of elderly grandparents—and even outdoor swimming pools, since his Praying Hands and enigmatic Melencolia I now belong to the standard repertoire of every tattoo studio.
The Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich not only possesses almost the complete printed oeuvre of Albrecht Dürer, but does so at an enviable level of quality. The selection of works for the exhibition will acknowledge him as an artist whose printed oeuvre not only successfully defied norms, but also set standards.
As an expression of Dürer’s continuing appeal to a wide audience, the exhibition also features photographs of tattoos based on Dürer’s prints.
Curated by Susanne Pollack, Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich
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