Style
It has long been recognised that his style was closely related to that of paintings from south-western Germany and Switzerland in the period 1430-50, by artists of whom the best known is Konrad Witz. In addition the Alpine cyclamen very frequently appears in the engravings. Although an identification proposed by Leo Baer of him with Witz has not been accepted, he does appear to have been trained as an artist rather than a goldsmith like many early engravers. His prints show an engraving technique closely related to drawing, with forms conceived in three dimensions and delicately modeled; engravers trained as goldsmiths, such as Master E. S. or Israhel van Meckenem, have a different set of stylistic conventions. His shading is mostly parallel vertical lines, and cross-hatching is rare.
Apart from comparisons with paintings, the start of his period of activity can only be dated to before 1446 by a dated print by his presumed pupil the Master of 1446. The fact that he had a mature pupil suggests that he himself had been active for many years by that date.
Prints by the Master very rarely come on the market, but on 20 September 2006 Christie's London auctioned an impression of the Queen of Flowers for £243,200 (about $450,000).
Read more about this topic: Master Of The Playing Cards
Famous quotes containing the word style:
“To write well, to have style ... is to paint. The master faculty of style is therefore the visual memory. If a writer does not see what he describes—countrysides and figures, movements and gestures—how could he have a style, that is originality?”
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“The difference between style and taste is never easy to define, but style tends to be centered on the social, and taste upon the individual. Style then works along axes of similarity to identify group membership, to relate to the social order; taste works within style to differentiate and construct the individual. Style speaks about social factors such as class, age, and other more flexible, less definable social formations; taste talks of the individual inflection of the social.”
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“As we approached the log house,... the projecting ends of the logs lapping over each other irregularly several feet at the corners gave it a very rich and picturesque look, far removed from the meanness of weather-boards. It was a very spacious, low building, about eighty feet long, with many large apartments ... a style of architecture not described by Vitruvius, I suspect, though possibly hinted at in the biography of Orpheus.”
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