Dürer's rhinoceros / Plavinskiy's rhinoceros. A Journey Through Centuries

Rhino, one of the most important images for Dmitriy Plavinskiy, has a 500 years history in art. Albrecht Dürer created the renowned woodcut in 1515, and the artwork the main embodiment of rhino in a view of a european. The artist didn’t see the real animal, but still the half fantastic/half realistic image he created became a benchmark for both future artists and scientists. Plavinskiy sensed the power and might of the exotic animal, depicted so brightly by Dürer. The nonconformist was always attentive to the past. For his complex and multilayered work, that inosculates epochs and cultures in a single entity, the experience of communication with Dürer turned out to be incredibly important. Dmitriy Plavinskiy studied by old masters’ works in the engraving department of the State Pushkin museum. Dürer was one of the artist’s favorite “teachers”. As the artist created the “universal” rhinoceros which embodies the holistic view of the world, he at the same time continued the long-lasting european tradition.

Besides interpretation of certain symbols by the old master, such as a rhino and warrior, there are other unobvious correlations between Plavinksiy and Dürer. Both artists strove for studying nature meticulously in all the tiniest, sometimes insignificant, details. The continuity of art by Dürer and Plavinskiy, its significant role in the European culture and the marvelous adventure of a rhinoceros through centuries and countries will be the main topics of the upcoming meeting.

Svetlana Murashkina is an art historian, curator and archive keeper of the German engravings in the Hermitage Museum. Svetlana gives lectures on the history of Dutch and German art, and among the realized projects could be noticed also the exhibitions “Albrecht Dürer. 550-year Birthday of the Artist” (curator) in the Hermitage, “The Gutenberg Bible” (curator) in the Russian state library and the Hermitage, the book “The Gutenberg Revolution: books in the era of change” (author).