Description

Artist: Albrecht DurerEngraver: Amand-DurandTitle: #4 * Medium: Etching on paper * Size: 8 1/2" x 6"Condition: ExcellentBiography: * Amand - Durand, born in Paris, France, 1831, became a master engraver early in his career. He deeply admired the 15 th, 16 th and 17 th century Old Masters' engravings and saw how they lost quality and faded from the ravages of time. This realization, combined with in-depth research throughout public and private collections of these masters, inspired his dedication to recreate their images and preserve the original quality for future generations.References to Amand - Durand indicate that his work was well known to experts of the 19 th and 20 th century etchings. George Duplessis, Conservator of the Cabinet Estampes in 1855, so appreciated his skill that he published master books which now belong to the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and in his own work, Histoire de la Gravure. This, an historic study of European engravings, is a book so valuable in its reproductive quality that it is kept under lock and key at major libraries.Soon after Amand - Durand's death in 1905, his original copper plates were obtained by the prestigious French book publishers, DOMINIQUE VINCENT et cie. They mainly published the work for book illustrations, but sporadically sold it to private parties interested in this unique creation. And now, over a century after Amand - Durand painstakingly recreated Durer's etchings, the benefits of his devotion to quality and beauty are again being felt throughout the entire art world. * *