Albert & the Whale

Paperback, 304 pages

English language

Published March 3, 2022 by 4th Estate.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-832332-5

(1 review)

Albrecht Dürer 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 Dürer’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 Dürer’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 …

Albrecht Dürer 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 Dürer’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 Dürer’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?

8 editions

Marc reviewed Albrecht Dürer und der Wal by Philip Hoare

Ein wilder Ritt

4 stars

Ein wilder Ritt durch die Zeit, Europa und die USA, sowie die Gedanken und Erlebnisse des Autors. Ist es eine Biografie oder ein Sachbuch? Und wenn ja, worüber? Man muss sich auf das Buch einlassen und aufmerksam lesen, wird dafür aber auch belohnt. Für mich war Dürer bisher nur "der mit den betenden Händen und dem Hasen". Das Buch hat mir einen völlig neuen Blick auf Dürer ermöglicht und mir nebenbei u.a. noch Thomas Mann näher gebracht.