LEUNG Wing Yin (Charlie) talks on Durer's "Adam and Eve"

1) INTRODUCE THE DRAWING IN GENERAL TERMS

•What is the title of the drawing?

•What is the name of the artist?
•What is the year the drawing was done?
•What is the medium? (ie the materials used to produce the picture, for example charcoal on paper, pen and ink etc)
•What is the subject matter or general theme of the work? (eg is it a figure drawing, a map, a portrait, an autobiographical work, a picture about nature, a drawing of the city etc?)
The title of this drawing is " Adam and Eve", and it is drawn by Albrecht Dürer  (German, 1471–1528)and finished in 1504. It is a copperplate engraving.It is a figure drawing . (A myth of Adam and Eve) .


•What is the purpose of the drawing? (eg Is it a diagram that explains how something works? Does it record accurately record the appearance of something? Does it express the artist's emotion or memory? )

This drawing  shows Adam and Eve at the moment in which Eve accepts the fruit from the serpent. Dürer was depicting ideal human body proportions and render naturalness in his artworks.

 Panofsky said: " Durer wished to present to a Northern public two classic specimens of the nude human body, as perfect as possible both in proportion and in pose."
( "Albrecht Durer's Renaissance" by David Hotchkiss Price, the University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor,2006)

The main purpose of this drawing was embodied Durer's new ideas of beauty and harmony.

2) DESCRIBE THE DRAWING IN DETAIL

•How is line used? What does it do/express?

This drawing used lots of lines, and the lines are quite dense and tight here. We can clearly see the details in every objects, such as the muscles of the two main charactors, the texture of the tree, the expression of the animals, etc. Those detailed lines make the whole drawing very realistic.

The drawing mainly use smooth and soft lines, but also includes some heavy lines in the background. The heavy lines make the background  very dark, and it seems that the forest is so immense. The soft line in the front create a kind of sadness atmosphere.

The drawing includes some intend lines, Adam's eyeline lead people focus on Eva, and Eva's eyeline lead people to the apple. It makes you focus on the objects step by step.

•How is tone used? What does it do/express?

Durer used three different tone to draw this picture.

Firstly, Durer used the light tone: in the front of this picture, the tone is very light, it made you focus on the two main charactors Adam and eve.

Secondly, he used middle tone: you can see that the objects ( the front trees and the animals) behind adam and eve are a little bit darker than.

Thirdly,  he used very dark tone in the forest, so that it can serve as a background.

The tone makes different layers and let people focus on different part of the drawing.

•What can you say about shape and/or form in this picture? What is the effect?

The drawing have a sense of 3-Dimensional form. As Durer wanted to depict ideal human body proportions in this drawing, he used the lines carefully. Every things in this drawing seems very realistic.


The realistic objects make people think of the story behind this drawing.

•Is texture a feature of the drawing?

The lines and the shading show some of the texture  in the drawing: for example, the wooden texture of the tree, the muscles of the charactors.

•What can you say about the composition of the drawing? What is the effect of this type of composition on the overall drawing?
Adam and Eve was drawn in the centre, so that people may focus on them and then follow their eyeline to find other objects.

•Is rhythm important in this picture? If so, say more about it...

Yes, the rhythm is important and it comes from the Adam and Eve's eyeline. As Durer wanted people to look at every things step by step, it made the drawing more active and energetic.


•Is the picture balanced? Explain...

It is considerably balance in the picture. We can see a stam in the middle and it just like cutting the picture into two parts: one part is Adam and the other part is Eve.

•Is perspective used in the picture? If so, describe the way that the illusion of three-dimensional space has been created.
The forest here are very dark in the drawing, and Adam and Eve are much more light, so that we can clearly see that Durer used perspective to depict the drawing.

•Is the picture harmonious? If so, in what way? 
The picture is harmonious, the charactors do not have exaggerated facial expression and movement. Every objects here are quite dull and it just like a motionless scene. So that it create a harmonious and comfortable feeling.

•Are there any strong contrasts in the picture? Say more... 
It has a strong contrast in the picture.It is because the background here is very dark and the subject matter ( Adam and eve) are corresponsively light.


      3) INTERPRETATION AND EVALUATION

•What is the mood of the drawing? Justify your answer using information from your responses above
The mood of this drawing is peaceful and harmonious. We can see that Durer use different lines and tone, it made a sence of harmony  in the picture. This drawing  shows the moment before eating the forbidden fruit , man and woman were harmony with each other, and all nature peaceful and without threat. But actually, the garden of paradise is already mutating into a dark forest, primitive and uncivilied, already  warns of the threatening forces of nature.

 •What does the drawing express? Justify your answer using information from your responses above
The drawing want to show the experimenting with Durer's ideal of physical perfection. So that he draw the harmonious moment before eating the forbidden fruit.

"Adam and eve are presented at a moment of tension ,of pause,when all is still governed by divine harmony." ("Durer",by Norbert Wolf, TASCHEN,2007)

•In your opinion, why is this work interesting/moving/ clever/ imaginative/thought-provoking/......?  Choose the adjective(s) that best fit(s) the work, and then justify your conclusion in terms of specific features and qualities of the drawing.

This work is interesting to me, it is because the drawing is so plentiful and rich. It has lots of objects here, and every lines and tone are meticulous and detailed.

The use of the intend lines and  the  implication of the objects make the drawing living and vivid.