Albrecht Dürer

The eponymous subject of Ekserdjian’s deft, illuminating study is Albrecht Dürer: the German Renaissance artist who revolutionised print-making, drawing and religious painting . . . Ekserdjian’s argument is convincing, and makes for a through-line in an unusually accessible treatment of Dürer’s life and art . . . Where this book really sings, though, is when Ekserdjian delves into the detail of Dürer’s work . . . By the end, it’s hard not to agree with Ekserdjian’s estimate: Dürer really was a 'many-sided genius'. -- Francesca Peacock * The Daily Telegraph *
One Renaissance innovation that survives undiminished is the star artist . . . This is the case David Ekserdjian makes in Albrecht Dürer: Art and Autobiography . . . Ekserdjian recounts it all with fastidious scholarship and dry wit. -- Martin Gayford * The Spectator *
David Ekserdjian . . . has now confirmed his reputation as a Renaissance man by producing a superb new monograph on an old master from north of the Alps. Albrecht Dürer: Art and Autobiography is the perfect introduction to the great pioneer of self-portraiture. -- Daniel Johnson * The Critic, ‘Non-Fiction Books of the Year’ *

The latest in Reaktion Books' excellent series of Renaissance Lives is this insightful, scholarly work by
David Ekserdjian . . . Professor Ekserdjian is remarkably successful in covering Dürer's art without sacrificing his own personal fluency of literary style . . . One feels reassuringly in the hands of a discerning expert rather than
a panegyrist . . . when the author's personal perspective shines through (and he is academically reticent in this), it is delightful . . . an admirable addition to an estimable series.

-- Alexander Hope * The Oldie *
Dürer, writes David Ekserdjian, in an illuminating and engaging short survey of his life and achievements, was unique among contemporary artists in the ‘almost obsessive interest’ he displayed in him-self . . . there is value, too, in the more traditional vein of art-historical scholarship represented by Ekserdjian’s book, which conveys a lucid sense of Dürer’s challenging proto-modernity, drawing a line to Lucian Freud and Norman Rockwell. -- Peter Marshall * Literary Review *
Ekserdjian’s lively account of the great Renaissance artist from Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer, shows how his art and autobiography continue to resound across the centuries. Dürer’s fascination with the world around him, whether an elaborate costume study, the brilliant blue of a bird’s wing or the distorted angle of a man’s face, is transferred into narrative prints that have inspired artists from Velázquez to Lucian Freud and remain mesmerizing today. * Giulia Bartrum, Former Curator of German Prints and Drawings at the British Museum *
David Ekserdjian’s book on the life and work of Albrecht Dürer portrays the artist vividly and sets him in his historical, artistic and intellectual context. Ekserdjian builds on the fundaments of sources in a comprehensive sense: Dürer's works in prints, drawings and paintings and, equally, his autobiographical and art-theoretical writings. Elegantly written, this book is pure pleasure to read. * Christof Metzger, Chief Curator at the Albertina Museum, Vienna *