# Albrecht (1471) Dürer artist context and auction value notes Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/albrecht-1471-durer/ Profile generated: 2026-04-29T01:53:00.000Z Quality: high confidence, strong sources ## Artist identity - Birth date: 1471-05-21 - Death date: 1528-04-06 - Nationality: German - Movements: German Renaissance, Northern Renaissance - Common media: copperplate engraving, woodcut print, oil painting, watercolour, drawing (pen, ink, charcoal, silverpoint) ## About Albrecht (1471) Dürer Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, and art theorist who is widely regarded as the preeminent figure of the Northern Renaissance. Born and based in Nuremberg, he trained as a goldsmith before turning to painting and printmaking, establishing a Europe-wide reputation while still in his twenties through the exceptional quality of his woodcut prints. Dürer travelled twice to Italy, absorbing the principles of classical proportion, linear perspective, and the nude from Italian Renaissance masters including Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, and synthesised those ideas with the Gothic tradition of Northern Europe. From 1512 he was court artist to Emperor Maximilian I. His three master engravings — Knight, Death, and the Devil, Melencolia I, and Saint Jerome in His Study — are landmarks of Western printmaking. Dürer also authored influential theoretical treatises on human proportion, perspective, and fortification, making him one of the first Northern European artist-intellectuals. ## Common works and media Collectors most commonly encounter Dürer through copperplate engravings such as Melencolia I, Knight Death and the Devil, Saint Jerome in His Study, and Adam and Eve, as well as woodcut series including the Apocalypse, the Great Passion, and the Small Passion. Also frequently seen are reproductive engravings after his designs, later restrikes from his original plates, and copies by followers and later printmakers. Original drawings in pen and ink, silverpoint, or watercolour appear at auction less often but are highly prized. Oil paintings are exceedingly rare; only about two dozen autograph panel paintings survive, most held in public institutions. ## Market and appraisal context Albrecht Dürer is among the most liquid Old Master printmakers at auction. The Appraisily auction-record index tracks 110 lots offered between May 2008 and November 2025, of which 72 carried a realised price. The price distribution is wide and positively skewed: observed prices range from €40 at the low end (likely later restrikes, copies, or small-format woodcuts in poor condition) to €800,000 at the high end (presumably exceptional lifetime impressions of major engravings). The median sits at €2,200 and the 75th percentile at €7,000, indicating that the typical Dürer print trades in the low four figures while premium impressions command five- to six-figure sums. Recent activity is steady, with 7 priced lots in the trailing twelve months and 10 in the prior twelve months, confirming continued auction-house demand. The market is dispersed across specialist Old Master print houses — notably Galerie Kornfeld Auktionen AG (Bern), Swann Auction Galleries (New York), Karl & Faber (Munich), Van Ham Kunstauktionen (Cologne), and Sotheby's (London) — as well as regional European houses including Isbilya Subastas, Duran Arte y Subastas, and Stockholms Auktionsverket. The three master engravings (Melencolia I, Knight Death and the Devil, Saint Jerome in His Study) and Apocalypse-series woodcuts anchor the top of the market, while smaller Passion-series sheets and reproductive prints populate the mid and lower tiers. ## Auction-house-backed market evidence Albrecht Dürer is among the most liquid Old Master printmakers at auction. The Appraisily auction-record index tracks 110 lots offered between May 2008 and November 2025, of which 72 carried a realised price. The price distribution is wide and positively skewed: observed prices range from €40 at the low end (likely later restrikes, copies, or small-format woodcuts in poor condition) to €800,000 at the high end (presumably exceptional lifetime impressions of major engravings). The median sits at €2,200 and the 75th percentile at €7,000, indicating that the typical Dürer print trades in the low four figures while premium impressions command five- to six-figure sums. Recent activity is steady, with 7 priced lots in the trailing twelve months and 10 in the prior twelve months, confirming continued auction-house demand. The market is dispersed across specialist Old Master print houses — notably Galerie Kornfeld Auktionen AG (Bern), Swann Auction Galleries (New York), Karl & Faber (Munich), Van Ham Kunstauktionen (Cologne), and Sotheby's (London) — as well as regional European houses including Isbilya Subastas, Duran Arte y Subastas, and Stockholms Auktionsverket. The three master engravings (Melencolia I, Knight Death and the Devil, Saint Jerome in His Study) and Apocalypse-series woodcuts anchor the top of the market, while smaller Passion-series sheets and reproductive prints populate the mid and lower tiers. ### Appraisal notes Appraisily uses these auction records as comparable-lot evidence alongside photographs, measured dimensions, medium identification (copperplate engraving vs woodcut vs drawing vs painting), signature or monogram verification, plate-mark or block-margin trimming assessment, condition reporting (foxing, creasing, staining, tears, flattening), watermark analysis (critical for dating lifetime vs posthumous impressions), and documented provenance. Because Dürer's print oeuvre is large and widely copied, each appraisal also considers catalogue raisonné references (Hollstein, Meder, Bartsch) and whether the impression is a confirmed lifetime pull, a later restrike from the original plate, or a copy after Dürer's design. The extreme price dispersion — from €40 to €800,000 — means that even small differences in impression quality, condition, and provenance can shift an appraisal estimate by an order of magnitude. ### Valuation factors - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Collector notes - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market caveats - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] - [object Object] ### Market evidence sources - Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/api/scraper-search/artists/albrecht-1471-durer/seo-profile?recentLimit=24&relatedLimit=0 - Christie's: https://www.christies.com/en/results?searchterm=Albrecht+D%C3%BCrer ## Appraisily data basis Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files, museums, and scholarly sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realised prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Albrecht Dürer, identity data is drawn from Wikidata, VIAF, the Library of Congress, the Getty ULAN, the German National Library, and the RKD, supplemented by the Wikipedia article for biographical corroboration. ## Sources - Wikimedia Foundation: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5580 - Wikimedia Foundation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer - OCLC / VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/54146999 - Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79118011 - J. Paul Getty Trust: https://www.getty.edu/vow/ULANFullDisplay?subjectid=500115493 - Deutsche Nationalbibliothek: https://d-nb.info/gnd/11852786X - RKD: https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/24586 - Christie's: https://www.christies.com/en/results?searchterm=Albrecht+D%C3%BCrer