Hopare albert

'Albert and the Whale' is an intriguing work of creative non-fiction which combines art history, natural history, physiology and literary criticism with memoir.
In Albert & the Whale, Philip Hoare sets out to discover why Dürer's art endures.
In Albert & the Whale, Philip Hoare sets out to discover why Dürer's art endures.

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Albert & the Whale

Praise for Albert and the Whale -

”'In Albert & the Whale he leads his readers off on a marvellously varied, vividly imaginative, seductively digressive adventure that traces the path of another colossus… this is a book to immerse you” - The Times, Book of the Week, Rachel Campell-Johnston

”'Magnificent new book … Hoare’s feeling for Dürer exceeds anything I have ever read … his greatest work yet” - Observer, Book of the Week, Laura Cumming

‘Marvellous, unaccountable book. This is a book like the stomach of a whale: capaciously ready to accommodate whatever disparate stuff comes its way' Literary Review -

”'Philip Hoare, best know for Leviathan, his discursive and personal book about whales, has written a very Sebaldian new book. In it, he traverses his own patch and sniffs out an assortment of seemingly unrelated themes - Albrecht Durer, cetaceans, Thomas Mann and David Bowie, a deformation of the hand, the death of his mother - and proceeds to reveal the single degree of separation between them… Enlightening” - Michael Prodger, Sunday Times

”'V

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Albert & the Whale

Albrecht Dürer changed the way we saw the world. From his prints of the Apocalypse in 1498—the first works mass-produced by an artist—to his hyper-real images of animals and plants, Dürer proved art is a time-machine.

It allows us to see what we’ve done, and are about to do.

In Albert & the Whale, Philip Hoare sets out to discover why Dürer’s art endures. He encounters medieval alchemists and modernist poets, eccentric emperors and enigmatic stars. He witnesses the miraculous birth of Dürer’s fantastical rhinoceros and his hermaphroditic hare, and traces the fate of the star-crossed leviathan that the artist pursued.

And as he swims through his story, prophetic artists and downed angels ask awkward questions. What’s real or make-believe? Does art have the power to save us? 500 years on, Dürer is still waiting for the answer.

Observer review – Albert and the Whale by Philip Hoare – his greatest work yet

New York Times review – A Wide-Roaming and Personal Meditation on Dürer and His Art

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Albert & the Whale

Description

A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN OBSERVER BEST ART BOOK OF 2021
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2022

‘This is a wonderful book. A lyrical journey into the natural and unnatural world’ Patti Smith

‘Everything Philip Hoare writes is bewitching’ Olivia Laing

An illuminating exploration of the intersection between life, art and the sea from the award-winning author of Leviathan.

Albrecht Dürer changed the way we saw nature through art. From his prints in 1498 of the plague ridden Apocalypse – the first works mass produced by any artist – to his hyper-real images of animals and plants, his art was a revelation: it showed us who we are but it also foresaw our future. It is a vision that remains startlingly powerful and seductive, even now.

In Albert & the Whale, Philip Hoare sets out to discover why Dürer’s art endures. He encounters medieval alchemists and modernist poets, eccentric emperors and queer soul rebels, ambassadorial whales and enigmatic pop artists. He witnesses the miraculous birth of Dürer