An illustrated selection of highlights from The Albertina's world-renowned collection of prints, drawings and paintings, featuring works from Old Masters as well as modern artists. The largest of the Hapsburg residential palaces, The Albertina in Vienna provides a stunning home to one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world. Named after its founder, passionate art collector Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen (1738-1822), the priceless collection comprises 50,000 drawings and watercolours and some 900,000 prints ranging from the late Gothic period to contemporary art. Here visitors can see world-famous works by da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael as well as Dürer, Rubens, Rembrandt and Cézanne. The modern collection contains a vibrant array of works from a diverse range of artists: from Schiele, Klimt, Picasso and Pollock to Warhol, Katz, Baselitz and Kiefer. An extraordinary treasure trove of visual knowledge, The Albertina has also been gathering photographs since the mid-19th century, and holds around 50,000 plans, sketches and models in its Architecture Collection. This small volume showcases the highlights from this vast collection, as chosen by its Director. Follow @AlbertinaMuseum on Twitter (7350 followers).

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

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.

The Renaissance of Etching is a groundbreaking study of the origins of the etched print. Initially used as a method for decorating armor, etching was reimagined as a printmaking technique at the end of the fifteenth century in Germany and spread rapidly across Europe. Unlike engraving and woodcut, which required great skill and years of training, the comparative ease of etching allowed a wide variety of artists to exploit the expanding market for prints. The early pioneers of the medium include some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, such as Albrecht Dürer, Parmigianino, and Pieter Bruegel the Elder, who paved the way for future printmakers like Rembrandt, Goya, and many others in their wake. Remarkably, contemporary artists still use etching in much the same way as their predecessors did five hundred years ago. Richly illustrated and including a wealth of new information, The Renaissance of Etching explores how artists in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and France developed the new medium of etching, and how it became one of the most versatile and enduring forms of printmaking. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 14.0px Verdana}

An exploration of the influences that have shaped the Austrian Expressionist.

The selection of drawings demonstrates how Raphael created a specific mode of visual invention and persuasive communication through drawing. He used drawing both as conceptual art (including brainstorming sheets) and as a practice based on attentive observation (such as drawing from the posed model). Yet Raphael's drawings also reveal how the process of drawing in itself, with its gestural rhythms and spontaneity, can be a form of thought, generating new ideas. The Oxford exhibition will present drawings that span Raphael's entire career, encompassing many of his major projects and exploring his visual language from inventive ideas to full compositions. The extraordinary range of drawings by Raphael in the Ashmolean and the Albertina, enhanced by appropriate loans, will enable this exhibition to cast new light on this familiar artist, transforming our understanding of Raphael's art.