Dangerous Beauty: The Prints of Albrecht Dürer

Event Description

December 13, 2025 - May 3, 2026
Curated by Steven McNeil, AGGV Chief Curator & Director of Exhibitions
Sharing artwork from the AGGV collection, this exhibition presents twelve prints by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). The selected prints showcase the artist’s extraordinary skill as a printmaker and his fascination with dramatic subjects centred on danger. Dürer’s prints often merge themes of danger and beauty, incorporating monstrous figures as well as scenes that evoke imminent or unfolding peril. Dürer’s depictions of dangerous beauty are often linked to his skill in printmaking, where he harnesses his significant technical knowledge to create a sense of the sublime.

Albrecht Dürer is an exceptionally gifted painter and printmaker of the Northern Renaissance period. Initially trained as a goldsmith, Dürer turned to printmaking as a young adult, producing woodcut prints for wide distribution, as well as engravings for a more specialized audience. He brought a level of technical skill to his profession that was groundbreaking and had a significant impact on artistic practice.

This exhibition was developed through the J. Paul Getty Foundation initiative, The Paper Project: Prints and Drawings Curatorship in the 21st Century, a program that supports training and professional development for curators of prints and drawings. Through this program, exhibition curator Steven McNeil participated in The Curating Prints Seminar co-organized by The Paper Project and the academic journal Print Quarterly in London, UK, in 2024. By supporting curators in navigating the demands of the 21st-century museum, both by preserving traditional skills that have been passed down through generations of specialists and by supporting efforts to make graphic arts collections accessible and relevant to today’s audiences. The Paper Project inspired the realization of Dangerous Beauty: The Prints of Albrecht Dürer.

Image Credits: Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471 - 1528), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, woodcut, 38.7 x 27.5 cm. Dr. Gustav and Marie Schilder Collection. AGGV1964.188.001