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Adam and Eve

Artist/Maker (German, 1471–1528)
Date1504
MediumEngraving
DimensionsImage: 9 13/16 × 7 1/2 in. (24.9 × 19.1 cm)
Sheet: 9 15/16 × 7 9/16 in. (25.2 × 19.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Max Kade Foundation
Object number1967.33
Status
On view
More Information
Active as a painter, draftsman, and printmaker, Albrecht Dürer was an entrepreneur and a man of great intellectual curiosity, who studied physiognomy, fortifications, engineering theories, and mathematical problems. He wrote and illustrated treatises on perspective and anatomy, explored ideal proportions, and struggled to describe the actions of the human body; all this information he integrated into his art. Dürer's intense observation of the human and natural world is as evident in his simple depictions of animals and plants as in his most complex allegorical compositions. His work as a printmaker-he executed more than 250 engravings, woodcuts, drypoints, and etchings-was enormously influential and spread his name and reputation throughout Europe.

Dürer's masterful engraving, The Fall of Man, was made in 1504, the year before he made his second trip to Italy. While the frontal and somewhat static figures of Adam and Eve were undoubtedly influenced by classical sculpture, Dürer's composition is his own invention. His deep preoccupation with understanding how the image was evolving and how to establish a dark background from which lighter figures would emerge was developed by printing trial impressions. A number of proofs of this engraving are extant, including one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They demonstrate how the artist worked on the background first and saved the figures for last. Preparatory drawings, including one of Adam and Eve, in the Morgan Library & Museum, show the care with which Dürer developed every detail of human and animal form. The collection includes another impression of this work, given to the AMAM in 2006 by Ken and Linda Preston.

The AMAM's rich holdings of ninety-four Dürer prints are nearly all gifts of the Max Kade Foundation and provide Oberlin students with a superlative resource for study, teaching, and research.
Exhibition History
Sammlung Max Kade
  • Staatliche Graphische Sammlung, Munich ( 1963 - 1964 )
  • Graphische Sammlung Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany ( 1963 - 1964 )
Rembrandt's Biblical Etchings: Renaissance Precendents and Baroque Inventions
  • Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (October 14, 1969 - January 4, 1970 )
Prints by Albrecht Durer
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (April 3, 1971 - May 5, 1971 )
Teaching Exhibition
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 3, 1981 - October 4, 1981 )
The Renaissance in Oberlin: Graphics from the Permanent Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 25, 1986 - December 31, 1986 )
Print Council Exhibition: Selections from the Prints and Drawings Collection at the Allen Memorial Art Museum
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (May 5, 1988 - June 5, 1988 )
Northern Renaissance Prints and Drawings
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (November 6, 1990 - January 27, 1991 )
Daughters of Eve: Representations of Women in German Renaissance Prints
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (February 9, 1993 - March 28, 1993 )
Quality and Technique in Prints
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (October 4, 1996 - December 22, 1996 )
German Renaissance Prints 1470-1550
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 27, 1999 - January 30, 2000 )
Teaching Exhibition: European and American Prints from the Collection
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 17, 2005 - December 23, 2005 )
Printing Practice: Religious Prints from the Renaissance
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 6, 2012 - December 23, 2012 )
Collections
  • European
  • On View