009;; Artist Inspiration: Albrecht Dürer

Let me start off by saying that the two and a half years I spent at Memphis College of Art, enduring semester after semester of one variation of Art History or another, I absolutely hated it. Nothing you could say would possibly change my mind. I'm not a traditional artist. I don't like "normal" painting. I don't like sculpture. I very rarely like drawings. I don't understand the fascination with abstract artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. I hate cubism. Hate it. So I will openly admit that I am not an art history buff.

I absolutely love Albrecht Dürer though. In Art History 2, he was the only artist I remembered on a test. I can probably account that to the fact that his subject matter is way more appealing to me than hidden sexual innuendos and landscapes. For as long as I can remember I have always been more drawn to Gothic-esque artists, and his apocalyptic engravings/prints and paintings are no exception. They're still inspiring artists today, and probably will be forever. His art is populated by monsters, witches, hybrid animals, and marauding soldiers. Many have obvious ties into the apocalypse, war and suffering, enigmas, and gender anxieties. 

 

"Knight, Death and the Devil" 1513, Engraving

"The Life of the Virgin" 1511, Wood carving

 

"The Temptation of the Idler (The Dream of the Doctor)" c. 1498, Engraving

Post Scriptum - I love how this post was mainly inspired by an episode of Pawn Stars. A customer brought in a reproduction print of The Knight, Death and the Devil - did you know an original print of that is worth more than $300,000? Crazy!