Tokyo University of the Arts presents the exhibition titled "Apocalypse: from Dürer to Redon". The Apocalypse is the last book of the New Testament, written by John, as a revelation of Jesus Christ. This theme was frequently subject in the European art, and about 500 years ago the most important works were made in the context of the apocalyptic iconography: the woodcut series of the Apocalypse by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), a German eminent painter and printmaker.
It was the time of renovation of the printmaking and publishing when Dürer's Apocalypse was made, and during this time many printed books with woodcut illustrations were made. Dürer was strongly conscious of woodcut and printed books as a new media, and the Dürer's Apocalypse series was published as a printed book, far beyond the level of woodcut illustration at that time, and regarded as an equivalent for the high-level art work.
The impact of Dürer's Apocalypse was so strong that we could see the trace of its influence in the 19th century, for example in the famous series of Apocalypse de Saint Jean (1899) by French artist Odilon Redon (1840-1916).
This exhibition focuses on the Dürer's Apocalypse, mainly on its origin and its trace of influence in the later times, in the context of history of printmaking and books. Almost all the Apocalypse in this exhibition was from the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. The print collection in this Gallery is well-known because of its outstanding quality. This exhibition is also the relational project of the exhibition "Albrecht Dürer Prints and Drawings: Religion/Portraits/Nature" at the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. We hope that visitors will enjoy this opportunity to explore both the Dürer works of both exhibitions and the apocalyptic imagery at the same time.