Dead Blue Roller
Description
Half a century after the death of the German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, his work continued to inspire artists and collectors. Hans Hoffmann was well known for his copies of Dürer’s nature studies, and in 1583 he faithfully copied Dürer’s celebrated drawing of a dead blue roller of 1512 in this exquisite watercolor. A network of very fine brushstrokes imitates the individual plumes of the bird’s underside while simultaneously suggesting an overall soft, downy texture. Several other copies of Dürer's composition exist, including one by Hoffmann in London. Both the London sheet and this sheet were signed with Hoffman’s prominent monogram and dated, indicating that he could not have intended them to pass as originals by the older master. Likely, he meant the drawing as an homage to the greatest German artist of the 1500s; his endeavor may have been sponsored by the Nuremberg-based Imhoff family, who owned Dürer's blue roller around the time this drawing was made.
Object Information
Date Created:
1583
Local ID:
1946.217
Collection:
DR - German
Provenance:
around 1580-1616: Paul von Praun, 1548-1616, Nuremberg-Bologna; 1801-1822?: Johann Friedrich Frauenholz, 1758-1822, Nuremberg; ?-1864: Johann Andreas Boerner, 1785-1862, Nuremberg, his sale, Rudolph Weigel Kunst Auction, Leipzig, 28 November 1864, lot 113; around 1864-1883: Theodor Oswald Weigel, 1812-1881, Leipzig, his sale, Gutekunst Stuttgart, 8 May 1883, no. 444; around 1883-1910: A. Freiherr von Lanna, Prague, 1836-1909, (Lugt 2773, stamped, verso, center), his sale Gutekunst Stuttgard, 6-11 May, 1910, lot 296: sold to Charles Obach; 1910: With Charles Obach, art dealer, London; around 1910-1936: Henry Oppenheimer, 1859-1932, London, his sale, Christie's London, 10 and 13-14 July, 1936, no. 380: sold to Heinrich Eisemann; 1936-around 1946: Heinrich Eisemann, 1890-1972, Frankfurt-London; 1946: with Schaeffer Galleries, Inc., New York; 1946- :The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Credit Line:
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Count:
1
Citation:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1946.217
Dimensions:
Sheet: 29.2 x 16.9 cm (11 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.); Secondary Support: 29.2 x 16.9 cm (11 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.
Creator(s):
after Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471–1528) and Hans Hoffmann (German, 1545/50–1591/92)
Materials:
Watercolor and gouache with touches of gold Support: Cream laid paper, laid down on cream wove paper
Period:
16th century
Classification:
Drawing
Rights:
Open Access
