Duerer exhibition

[Jeffrey.<Kaimowitz@MAIL.TRINCOLL.EDU>]

PRESS RELEASE: WATKINSON LIBRARY

DURER EXHIBITION NOW ON DISPLAY

        Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) is one of the greatest artists of the
Renaissance and his contributions to the visual arts in a variety of  media
are unparalleled.  Arguably some of his most seminal achievements  are in
the realm of book illustration where his pioneering efforts put the graphic
arts on a whole new basis.  These achievements are the subject of an
exhibition currently on display in the Trinity College's Watkinson Library,
Albrecht Durer, Book Illustrator.  Drawing on the Watkinson Library's
Trumbull-Prime Collection of early illustrated books, the show begins with
German book illustration before Durer, including the Gunther Zainer Bible
(1475-1476), the Koberger Bible (1483), Bernhard von Breydenbach's Travels
to the Holy Land (1488), and Aesop illustrations (ca. 1492) based on the
Ulm Aesop.

         The show next surveys early examples of Durer's own work, including
illustrations for an edition of the Roman comic poet Terence (ca. 1492)
that were never issued and woodcuts in the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493) and
Sebastian Brant's Ship of Fools  (1494).   Of special note is the great
series of illustrated  books, which represent the climax of Durer's career
as a graphic artist:  the Apocalypse (1498 & 1511), the Life of the Virgin
(1511), the Great Passion (1511), and the Small Passion (1511).  Next
follows a comprehensive display of Durer's skill as a technical illustrator
as revealed in his three great treatises: Instruction on Drawing with a
Compass and Ruler (1525), the Four Books on Human Proportion (1528), and
the Treatise on the Fortification of Towns, Castles, and Hamlets (1527).
On exhibition are first editions of both the German and Latin first
editions of each of these works.  The show closes with examples of book
illustration by four of Durer's apprentices and journeymen, each of whom
became leading artists in his own right: Hans Baldung, Hans Sebald Beham,
Hans Schaufelein, and Hans Springinklee.

        The exhibition was prepared by Dr. Jeffrey H. Kaimowitz, Curator of the
Watkinson Library and Doris Kammradt, Collection Development Librarian in
the Trinity College Library. They have written an illustrated catalogue to
accompany the show. which is available free upon request from the Watkinson
Library, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106.

        Albrecht Durer, Book Illustrator will be on display from February 4, 1994
through May 31, 1994 and is open to the public with no admission charge.
The hours of the Watkinson Library are Monday through Friday, 9:30-4:30.
When the College is in session, Saturday hours are provided, 9:30-4:30, and
weekday hours are extended on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to 5:30.
For more information, call the Watkinson Library at (203) 297-2268.

Jeffrey H. Kaimowitz
Curator, Watkinson Library
Trinity College
Hartford, CT 06106
(203) 297-2266
Jeffrey.Kaimowitz@Mail.Trincoll.edu