With Dürer in our hearts

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Nuremberg artist’s birth, the exhibition at the Grafisches Kabinett explores Prechtl’s artistic engagement with Albrecht Dürer.
In 1970, in the run-up to the 500th anniversary of Albrecht Dürer’s birth, Michael Mathias Prechtl travelled through the Netherlands, inspired by Dürer’s journey in 1520/21. Whilst Dürer travelled on his own by ship and horse-drawn carriage, Prechtl travelled mostly by car and was accompanied by a film crew from ZDF. Dürer feared for the continued payment of his imperial annuity and set off into the unknown to open up new markets for his art. Prechtl, on the other hand, was supported by a scholarship awarded by Roland Graf von Faber-Castell to mark the Dürer Year in 1971.
The drawings created during the journey, which are now held in the collection of the Albrecht Dürer House Foundation in Nuremberg and in the City of Nuremberg’s Graphic Arts Collection, form the centrepiece of an exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of Prechtl’s birth. They take up motifs from Dürer’s travel sketches, bring them into the present day and, in many cases, playfully turn them on their head. At the same time, they demonstrate Prechtl’s unique technical virtuosity. This blend of lightness and erudition characterises many of his immensely popular works and makes him a key figure in the reception of Dürer in his time. For Prechtl, Dürer, in his versatility, was the central source of inspiration alongside Picasso.
The exhibition catalogue from that time concludes with the words: Prechtl is still travelling with Dürer. The end of the journey, like the destination, remains unknown. The current exhibition illustrates a stage of this shared journey.

Last edited on 30.04.2026