Though most famous for his engravings, Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) was also a master painter and draftsman whose work exemplifies the spirit of German art. This overview of Durer's entire oeuvre is an ideal introduction to his work.

Issued in connection with an exhibition held March 24-June 9, 2013, National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) is a master artist who, with giants like Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt van Rijn, occupies the pinnacle of achievement. His appeal was extraordinary in his lifetime, and it has not diminished since his death. A member of the northern school, he combined Gothic and Renaissance traits in a way that has a particular attraction to the modern eye. Overriding all considerations of style, however, are his talents as an artist of genius, as revealed in his mastery of depiction, in the breadth of his composition, and in the penetration of his portrayal. These are the basis of his fame, past and present. Dürer's crowning achievement was in the graphic media - drawing and printmaking. The only names that come to mind as peers in these are Rembrandt and Goya, and he preceded the Dutchman by a century and the Spaniard by three. In discussing a master artist one picture is worth a thousand words, and one need only turn to the engraving of Melencolia I to see why the Italian Renaissance writer Giorgio Vasari said it was "the most delicate work an engraver could possibly bring off." A comprehensive selection of Dürer's compositions is presented here by the esteemed German art historian Heinz Lüdecke, who has provided a lucid essay that gives essential biographical and historical information, as well as a description and stylistic analysis of the important works in all media. The text is perfectly complemented by the illustrations, which reproduce in color or black and white the heart of Dürer's extant œuvre. For the initiate who wants to familiarize himself with the essential meaning of Dürer and for the connoisseur who wants to savor his remarkable creations, this book serves in a unique way." --

Rediscover the drawings of Albrecht Dürer, one of the most prominent Renaissance artists, known as an incomparable painter and draughtsman with a keen eye for the natural world. During his lifetime, Dürer found tremendous success as a painter and printmaker, taking commissions from prominent figures such as Frederick the Wise and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. His drawings and studies reveal his interest in human proportions, anatomy, and perspective. Featured in this book are Dürer's drawings from the Albertina Museum's preeminent collection including family portraits, studies of animals and plants, and studies of the human body. This book showcases more than 100 of Dürer's drawings including Hare, Self Portrait at the Age of 13, and Melencolia I, along with paintings and prints. Featuring scholarly essays and beautifully reproduced works, this book shows the reader not only how important Dürer's drawings are to his own oeuvre, but also how he helped drawing become an appreciated medium in its own right.

Three hundred forty-six reproductions of woodcuts, arranged chronologically, by the German artist with supplementary information on his life

A catalogue of fifteenth and sixteenth century German paintings in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

"Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) was in a sense the first truly international artist. The collection of his work in the British Museum is one of the best in the world. This book shows how his sophisticated development of the techniques of woodcut and engraving introduced the idea of multiple images into fine art and thereby altered the history of printmaking. The chronology of his career is traced from his early work in the medieval tradition of Martin Schongauer, through the experience he acquired while living in Italy, to his major print projects for the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I." "The book also examines Durer's influence at later periods, from the obsessive interest in his work by collectors and artists during the late sixteenth century to the virtually iconic status he acquired amid the rise of German nationalism during the nineteenth century. The Nobel-winning German novelist Gunter Grass, himself a printmaker, contributes a subjective view of Durer's images from a twentieth-century standpoint, while other introductory essays by Guilia Bartrum, Joseph Koerner and Ute Kuhlemann consider aspects of Durer's legacy through history. The illustrations include all Durer's best-known prints as well as numerous drawings and watercolours."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

A classic, prize-winning novel about an epic migration and a lone woman haunted by the past in frontier Waipu. In the 1850s, a group of settlers established a community at Waipu in the northern part of New Zealand. They were led there by a stern preacher, Norman McLeod. The community had followed him from Scotland in 1817 to found a settlement in Nova Scotia, then subsequently to New Zealand via Australia. Their incredible journeys actually happened, and in this winner of the New Zealand Book Awards, Fiona Kidman breathes life and contemporary relevance into the facts by creating a remarkable fictional story of three women entangled in the migrations - Isabella, her daughter Annie and granddaughter Maria. McLeod's harsh leadership meant that anyone who ran counter to him had to live a life of secrets. The 'secrets' encapsulated the spirit of these women in their varied reactions to McLeod's strict edicts and connect the past to the present and future.