In order to show Albrect Dürer's relationship with early northern European traditions, and the Italianate features in his artwork I have chosen two works of art.
Wing of a Roller, 1512, watercolor and gouache on vellum,
Cupid the Honey Thief, 1514, Pen and ink and watercolor on paper.
I chose Wing of a Roller because the amount of fine details in it reminded me of earlier works by Jan van Eyck. In Dürer's watercolor study of this bird's wing he brings out an enormous amount of realism and naturalism in the painting. When looking at the bird's wing you can see where every feather starts and stops, and how it overlaps the next one beneath it. By looking at it you can also feel the textures associated with each of the feathers. From the soft fuzzy ones where the wing used to meet the body, to the soft, fragile, and small ones in the middle of the wing, and to the stiffer long ones that make up the lower half of the wing. Though my favorite detail for the wing has to be how he took note of how some of the feathers are shiny and have light roll across them, while how others are just muted and softer in the light.
When looking at this painting I just want to stick my hand out and mess up the feathers, because it feels as if there should be more underneath of what we are seeing. His use of color is also beautiful, and when looking at a real picture of a Roller you can definitely see what he saw while creating this work of art.
While the other work I chose, Cupid the Honey Thief, reminded me of an Italianate style. The woman in the painting is in a contrapposto pose, with almost all of her weight going onto her right foot. Her body is very natural, and though she is not entirely nude, you can see almost all of the curves on her body, and the painting does seem to be celebrating the nude figure. There are also a lot of fine details throughout her whole body. And I've just now realized that this figure looks a lot like Dürer's Eve, from his Adam and Eve engraving. They both have the same forehead, nose, hair, and body shape.
Her arm is also foreshortened, a long with Cupids leg as he's trying to get away from the bees swarming him. It almost looks as if she is scolding him for stealing the honey. One thing that also struck me about that ugly cupid is how he has wings on his back. It's a strange mix considering all of the other humanism/naturalist qualities in the painting, and I also find it kind of strange that his wings are one of the only areas of color in the painting.
In all honesty though, the main reason why I chose these works is because I saw it as an opportunity to be able to write about watercolor in this class. I wish that there were more opportunities for it though, because of how beautiful some of these paintings can be. I wanted to write about more Dürer watercolors that I found, that showed some beautiful atmospheric perspective, but I don't have the time to write about them all day. So to whoever reads this I'd like for you to check out the 2nd link that Professor Bowen posted and look for the two Dürer watercolor galleries.
6 comments:
I'm glad you got a chance to write about watercolor! Dürer was a master of several different types of artistic mediums - no wonder he was such a celebrity during his time.
- Prof. Bowen
I love your description of Durer's 'Wing of a Roller.' This is a beautiful painting, very realistic and colorful, and the saturation of the watercolor is incredible! It's almost hard to believe it is the same medium as in the wings in the other art piece, 'Cupid the Honey Thief,' where the pigment is much more diluted. ~Lacey
Durer's "wing of a Roller is stunning, and you described it perfectly. There is defiantly an extreme amount of detail in the painting.
I wonder if people found Durer's Cupid the Honey Thief comical when he created it. I find it funny because the way the woman is almost pointing her finger at him, and smirking.
Durer's works highlights his close attention to detail. But i think in all of his works he goes a bit further and emphasis's how talented he believe he is. His paintings hold naturalism yet it showcase something different. It showcase the limits he can take his paintings to.
I loved your post.I sgree that watercolors are beautiful and we do not get to learn about them much. You have a great sense of detail and I love that because it helps me invision what you saw and felt while you looked at his paintings.
Jennifer Groce
I found your post very interesting, and I loved your description of "Wing of a Roller" I've never seen such an amazing depiction of feathers and color to the point where I at first thought it was a photograph at first! I also enjoyed your overview of "Cupid the Honey thief" as well. I also wonder, now that you point it out, why the only thing in color is his wing?
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