Dürer and His Time features works by the renowned German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and select peer artists from the Davison Art Collection, researched by Wesleyan students in the course ARHA 263C “Curatorial Workshop: The Northern Renaissance Print,” taught by Assistant Professor of Art History Joseph Salvatore Ackley and organized in coordination with the Donald T. Fallati and Ruth E. Pachman Curator of the Davison Art Collection Miya Tokumitsu.

The flourishing of the print stands as one of the defining hallmarks of the Northern Renaissance. Northern Europe in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries witnessed such major historical events as the Protestant Reformation, the spread of Italian humanism, and the steady rise and circulation of printed books and printed images. Leading artists of the time, including Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden, Albrecht Altdorfer, and Lucas Cranach, explored and pushed this exciting new technology in multiple directions. The Northern Renaissance print became in turn a key site for new modes of artistry, devotion, and artmaking writ large. Dürer and His Time gathers a selection of works from these figures to help examine this pivotal moment of the Western tradition.

The Davison Art Collection holds more than 25,000 works of art on paper, including prints, photographs, and drawings. The print collection is one of the foremost at a college or university in the United States. Wesleyan students examined and researched the works in this exhibition, as well as other works of the collection, over the course of the semester-long curatorial workshop.

Read Students Research Works in Davison Art Collection for New Print Exhibition in The Wesleyan Connection.

Opening Reception: Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 4:30pm.

The Dürer and His Time exhibition will be closed from Saturday, May 18 through Thursday, May 23, 2024.

The exhibition will be open for Reunion and Commencement Weekend on Friday, May 24 and Saturday, May 25, 2024 from 12:30pm to 4:30pm.