'summons the eclectic travels of Albrecht Dürer with captivating passion, poignancy, pure wonder and a personal twist' - The Guardian A beautifully eclectic book offering an insight into the life and work of Dürer Albrecht Durer changed the way we saw nature through art. From his prints in 1498 of the plague ridden Apocalypse - the first works mass produced by any artist - to his hyper-real images of animals and plants, his art was a revelation: it showed us who we are but it also foresaw our future.It is a vision that remains startlingly powerful and seductive, even now. In Albert & the Whale, Philip Hoare sets out to discover why Durer's art endures. He encounters medieval alchemists and modernist poets, eccentric emperors and queer soul rebels, ambassadorial whales and enigmatic pop artists.He witnesses the miraculous birth of Durer's fantastical rhinoceros and his hermaphroditic hare, and he traces the fate of the star-crossed leviathan that the artist pursued. And as the author swims from Europe to America and beyond, these prophetic artists and downed angels provoke awkward questions. What is natural or unnatural? Is art a fatal contract? Or does it in fact have the power to save us? With its wild and watery adventures, its witty accounts of amazing cultural lives and its delight in the fragile beauty of the natural world, Albert & the Whale offers glorious, inspiring insights into a great artist, and his unerring, sometimes disturbing gaze. One of The New Statesman's books of the year. Details Author: Philip Hoare Hardcover: 304 pages Date published: March 2021 Language: English ISBN: 978-0008323295 Product Dimensions: 22 x 14 cm Review 'I fell hook, line and sinker for Albert and the Whale (Fourth Estate), a kind of treasure hunt in search of the German Renaissance painter Albrecht Dürer and the wonders that he saw.' - New Statesman 'summons the eclectic travels of Albrecht Dürer with captivating passion, poignancy, pure wonder and a personal twist' - The Guardian
