Edinburgh.- This summer the National Gallery of Scotland will present a unique display that will examine the work of the 16th century German artist Albrecht Dürer and his enduring influence, spanning five centuries. “Dürer’s Fame” will showcase a selection of his magnificent prints from the Galleries’ collection, together with contemporary and later copies of his work. These objects will be augmented by a selection of illicit imitations and surprising tributes, including a 21st century tattoo. “Dürer’s Fame” can be seen from 9th June through 11th October.
Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was the most important artist of the Northern Renaissance and is one of the most celebrated artists of all time. He excelled as a painter and draughtsman, but it was his skill as a printmaker that spread his fame across Europe. The printmaking process allowed for multiple copies of his work to be produced which could easily be sold and distributed. This accessibility, combined with his technical brilliance and highly individual style, made him a much admired and imitated artist. The display will include many of Dürer’s famous prints, most of which have not been shown in Edinburgh since 1971, like his iconic “Melancholy”, “Saint Jerome in his Study” and “Knight, Death and the Devil”.
To demonstrate the extent of his impact, ‘Dürer’s Fame’ will also display famous examples by Italian and Netherlandish artists alongside the original works. This will include Marcantonio Raimondi’s “The Circumcision of Christ (from The Life of the Virgin)” and Johan Wierix’s “Melencolia” of 1602. In addition this exhibition will include works by the Scottish artists John Runciman (1744-1768/69) and William Bell Scott (1811-1890), whose response to Dürer’s art is less well known. , was inspired by Dürer’s woodcut of the same subject. Whilst Scott’s painting, of 1854, imagines Dürer seeking inspiration on the balcony of his house in Nuremberg, highlighting his romanticized reputation in the 19th century. The display will conclude by considering Dürer’s continuing relevance in the 21st century. An example of work from an installation which filled a Nuremberg square with 7,000 plastic hares in 2003, and a poster of German handball star Pascal Hens sporting a tattoo based on Dürer’s “Study of Praying Hands” will demonstrate the artist’s enduring influence today.
The National Gallery of Scotland, in Edinburgh, is the national art gallery of Scotland. An elaborate neoclassical edifice, it stands on The Mound, between the two sections of Edinburgh’s Princes Street Gardens. The building, which was designed by William Henry Playfair, first opened to the public in 1859. The National Gallery shares the Mound with the Royal Scottish Academy Building. In 1912 both were remodelled by William Thomas Oldrieve. When it re-opened, the gallery concentrated on building its permanent collection of Scottish and European art for the nation. The research facilities at the National Gallery include the Prints and Drawings Collection of over 30,000 works on paper, from the early Renaissance to the late nineteenth century; and the reference-only Research Library, which is open to the general public. The Research Library covers the period from 1300 to 1900 and holds approximately 50,000 volumes of books, journals, slides, and microfiches, as well as some archival material relating to the collections, exhibitions and history of the National Gallery.
The Weston Link, an underground interconnection between the two buildings and the final phase of the Playfair Project, opened August 2004. This contains a lecture theatre, education area, shop, restaurant and an interactive, touch-screen IT Gallery showing the collections of the National Galleries. Between the two buildings is a modern square, affording views of Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street. Together, the National Galleries of Scotland (which include The National Gallery of Scotland, The Royal Scottish Academy, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery, The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and The Dean Gallery) look after one of the world’s finest collections of Western art ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. At the heart of the National Gallery’s collection is a group of paintings transferred from the Royal Scottish Academy Building. This includes masterpieces by Jacopo Bassano, Van Dyck and Giambattista Tiepolo. The holdings also include the National Collection of Scottish art. Visit the museum’s website at … http://www.nationalgalleries.org