Traveling in Uffizi Gallery in Florence, I was immediately appealed to the
below masterpiece of Dürer – for its being highly detailed and vivid
on wood. As a fervent lover of watercolor, I highly admired his exquisite mastery
of watercolor. In Dürer’s view, even the simplest sketch could
express “the spiritual essence of an artist’s creative impulse.”
Adoration of the Magi (1504), oil on wood, Uffizi
Gallery, Florence
Life experience
Albrecht Dürer, born in Nurember, Germen,
established his reputation across Europe when he was in his twenties. As a
renown artist of the German Renaissance, he had a vast amount of work includes engravings,
portraits and watercolors.
Born as the son of a goldsmith and working as a printer in the most
famous publication in fifteenth century, Dürer became famous for
his excellent techniques in woodcutting and printing. Later, he followed the
common German custom of learning skills from artists to start as an apprentice
and learn drawing skills. Dürer also had an attachment for Italy – he left
for Venice to study more advanced artistic techniques and later on established
connections with Raphael Giovani Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci.
His family background and personal experience largely contributed to his
styles, techniques and themes of his work. I would choose three different
styles of his work and provide analysis.
Portraits
Travelled to Netherland, Dürer mastered a difficult medium of art from
that area: silverpoint on prepared paper. Silverpoint produces a highly
detailed image. However, it is very challenging since no corrections were
possible. This medium requires meticulous details and perfection, setting the foundation
for his style and expression. Image 1 is a self-portrait of Dürer. It is very common for an artist to express himself through
self-portraits and Dürer records his emotions through portraits as
well. In addition, Dürer’s ability of catching emotions is
remarkable – we can tell this from his other sketches of human figure, such as
the portrait of Dürer’s mother in Image 2.
Image 1, Self-Portrait, 1491-92, Pen and black ink drawing
Image 2, Portrait of Dürer’s Mother, 1514, Charcoal drawing
Watercolor
Dürer is the master of
watercolor. He gives his work an utter simplicity that the medium can produce. In
Image 3, he used translucent washes in capturing the clear light of the sky but
created perfect details of the architecture. One intrigue part of this work is
that it demonstrates the artist rising to the challenge of drawing the city’s
reflection in the water.
Image 3, View of Innsbruck from the North,
1494– 95, Watercolor
Printmaking
Born as the son of goldsmith, Dürer started printmaking
from a very young age. During that time, printed images serve a great variety
of functions – form religious, to documents, mementos, and propaganda. As a
result, there are a plethora of themes of Dürer’s printed images. As
Image 4 shows, under Dürer’s cutting blade, the line widens as it
deepens and results a line with flex and elasticity. Different density and directions
of the lines create a three-dimensional space – light and dark. With the
perfect space between each line, it renders a sense of surface tension. His lines
are highly disciplined and thus gives rise to a cohesive work.
Image 4, Woodcut
The reason I love Dürer
is that I enjoy seeing the details and emotions of a piece of art. In Dürer’s
work, I can easily find striking yet vivid details. He is a genius of combining the
medium and meaning of the art together. Moreover, I am a fan of watercolor. As
a pioneer of watercolor, Dürer
inspires me about how to evoke emotions and feelings in watercolor drawing with
translucent color, solid color and large brushwork, refined brushwork. Hence, it is
very fascinating and enlightening to delve deep into Dürer’s work.
Citations:
1. Silver, Larry. Smith,
Jeffrey Chipps. The Essential Dürer. University of Pennsylvania Press: Pennsylvania,
2010. Print.
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2. Fara, Giovanni
Maria. Albrecht Dürer: originali, copie, derivazioni. Firenze: L.S. Olschki,
2007. Print.
3. Dürer, Albrecht.
Albrecht Dürer Disegni. Firenze, La nuova Italia, 1973. Print.
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