Dürer's Lost Masterpiece -
Art and Society At The Dawn Of A Global World
By Ulinka Rublack
Oxford University Press - £30.00
Count one penny as precious as four.
…
You can save a penny as quickly
As earning one, believe you me.
And put your money to good purpose,
Don't overindulge in gambling and parties.
Shun loads and all extravagance
And you'll come off the better for it.
('Letter 3').
As the above clearly substantiates, Albrecht Dürer was no poet, although we do need to remind ourselves of the degree to which the celebrated German artist's work still continues to resonate with a particular, all pervasive power.
Let it be said that there may be no better to way to pursue said reminding than to fully embrace Dürer's Lost Masterpiece - Art and Society At The Dawn Of A Global World. A book which draws on a decade of meticulous research, which unsurprisingly, brings to life the artist's ''determined fight for creative makers to be adequately paid'' by way of ultimately exploring how European societies (eventually) came to value the arts and crafts which remain relevant to this day.
Currently relevant in as much that Spotify et al, ought to take both note and learn a very valuable lesson here; which is that musicians, like artists, too deserve to be ''adequately paid'' for their work and their time. For as is, musical creativity is currently/financially shunned – a rancid sate of affairs that I'm convinced Dürer would have something to say and shout about.
To a certain extent, it might be said that as much is clarified and underlined by Peter Burke of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, when he writes: ''Ulinka Rublack's new book successfully combines a close reading of the sources for the life and work of Albrecht Dürer with a wide-ranging account of art as a luxury commodity at a time when the trade in luxuries was going global.''
Sound familiar?
The result of which is a book that, rather than homing in on the extraordinary merit and value of Dürer'sartistry, essentially focuses on his elongated and rather plagued relationships with the era's multitude of vexed and uninformed merchants – those who paid the bills by way of many a fraught commission.
It is this is that is essentially brought to bear throughout these 431 pages (excluding List of Illustrations, Digital Resources for Further Viewing and Reading and Index), an altogether pertinent example being the opening of chapter nine's 'Oil and Pigment,' where Rublack writes: ''Throughout the correspondence with Heller, Dürer drew attention to painting as material process. He educated this merchant about the art of making an oil painting from start to finish, and how long different aspects took. Impatience would never pay off. Dürer wanted Heller to appreciate not just the expense of particular colour pigments but also the entire practice of painting as a skilful and time-consuming practice, which in turn he hoped would educate his patron about what was to be regarded as a fair price. 'I feel my own way forward from one day to the next' was how he described his growing understanding of rendering proportions and perspective. Consistency, purity, and technical precision mattered and this in turn depended on a deep knowledge of tools, instruments, his body, and materials.''
Divided into four sections: Part One – Letters to Heller, Part Two – Tastemakers, Part Three – Dürer and the Global Commerce of Art, and Part Four – Shopping for Dürer in the Thirty Years' War, authoress Ulinka Rublack has herein written and compiled a book that really does tick all the boxes so far as its subject is concerned. Even the 37.4 List of Illustrations at the very outset are overtly thorough in factual detail.
Moreover, the aforementioned ''consistency, purity, and technical precision'' are aspects I personally would have welcomed a whole lot more of throughout Dürer's Lost Masterpiece; rather than focusing so much unwarranted attention on the spurious succession of myopic merchants – whom I personally couldn't care less about.
That said, it could be argued that the colourful illustrations throughout the book's four parts, do go some way making up for the preponderance of non-artistic address.
Although admittedly, no-where near enough (it must be said).
David Marx
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