Albrecht Dürer was and remains one of the most famous artists in the history of art in general. Besides his exceptional talent for painting and mathematics, he also had a great gift for business.
Dürer, born in 1471, was what is called a general, universal genius; painter, mathematician, coppersmith, draftsman... He grew up in a family of goldsmiths, so he started his career right in his father's workshop, where he learned this trade.
At that time, Nuremberg, the city where he was born and grew up, was one of Germany's main artistic centers. Artists from all over Europe gathered here - which was not so strange considering the exceptional wealth of the inhabitants of this city.
Encounters with the works of the then Renaissance masters such as Raphael and Michelangelo had a lasting effect on Dürer as well.
The nobility and wealthy citizens here, more than anywhere else, were ready to spend considerable sums of money both on painting canvases and sculptures, as well as on the then very popular globes.
Despite the great creative energy that at that time was felt at every step in Nuremberg, Dürer left his hometown and first went to Switzerland, to Basel, a little later to Colmar and Strasbourg.
Meeting with Renaissance masters
Despite the fact that travel was not at all popular at that time, Dürer went to Italy a few years later (after marrying Agnes Frej, the daughter of a Nuremberg coppersmith).
Everyone could afford his art
Encounters with the works of Renaissance masters of the time, such as Raphael and Michelangelo, had a lasting impact on Dürer as well. When he returned to his native Nuremberg from Italy in the last years of the XNUMXth century, this change could also be seen in his appearance.
With his long hair and characteristic beard and moustache, Dürer seemed almost exotic, which in some way helped him in his popularity which grew day by day. Since it was clear to him in the meantime that he had brought the art of copper engraving and wood engraving to perfection and that there was no one better than him at that time (and not even later), Dürer went one step further.
Dürer's "Apocalypse" is the best example of what makes him one of the most important artists in general
He hired special agents whose task was to market and sell his works as best as possible. What was special and which did not exist in that sense until then was the fact that the artist "produced" works both for the richest, for their palaces and villas, but also for the poorer ones.
"Apocalypse" Woodcuts
Everyone could afford his art. He achieved his greatest success with the series of woodcuts "Apocalypse", created in 1498. The most famous image of this series shows the four horsemen of the apocalypse sowing death and destruction on the earth; wars, famine, diseases of the worst kind.
Albrecht Dürer, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
These scenes leave a deep impression even on today's observer accustomed to cruel scenes of violence, and it was the same for Dürer's contemporaries. Collectors were literally clamoring for these works.
Dürer's "Apocalypse" is the best example of what makes him one of the most important artists in general to this day: the power of expression, incredible imagination, realism and precision in the depiction of details.
Gallery
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