Renaissance and Reformation: German Art in the Age of Dürer and Cranach

 Headed by Martin Luther's writings, the German Reformation period, 1460-1580, set in motion a major cultural shift in Europe and transformed the work of many artists of the time such as Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Hans Holbein, Mathias Grünwald, Tilman Riemenschneider, and Peter Vischer.

Coinciding with the 500^th anniversary of this era, masterpieces of the German Renaissance art, rarely displayed outside Germany, are on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as the sole U.S. venue.

Reformation infused every aspect of art. Represented are over 100 works of art including paintings, sculptures, arms and armors, drawings, as well as decorative arts, displayed in five thematic sections.

The Traditional Imagery and Devotion section illustrates how objects of religious veneration gradually gave way to works of sculpture intended for aesthetic value.

The extent to which developments in art, media, and politics were intertwined is illustrated in Propaganda and Polemics. The Reformation was the first movement to use propaganda techniques to foster its cause.

In the section of Arms and Armor: the Splendor of the Saxon Court objects from the royal art treasuries recall the era’s exquisite craftsmanship, and feature weapons and armor that lend a glimpse into life at the royal court.

 


Themes explored in Humanism and Reality attest to new and transformed ways of looking at the world incorporating both idealized visions of classical antiquity and observations of nature and people. 

Emphasis is placed on drawings by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach, Hans Beham, Hans Schäufelin, and Albrecht Altdorfer, among others.

Portraiture enjoyed great favor in European painting from the 15th century onward. As religious paintings were less in demand, artists relied more on commissions for individual portraits from secular patrons. 

 

German drawn portraits often used a combination of techniques and crayons to render their subjects with surprising likeness. Their delicate approach to the medium remains one of the most spectacular achievements of the German Renaissance.

The presentation is organized by three German institutions: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München, and made possible by the German Foreign Office.

The exhibit runs from November 20, 2016, through March 26, 2017, at Resnick Pavilion, 5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036. For more information call (323) 857-6000 or visit http://www.lacma.org/