Dürer’s mother
(smoking endangers health)

1999
Charcoal drawing, heightened with white, on grey Ingres paper
60 x 80 cm
Private Collection

After the famous work by Albrecht “Dürer’s Mother” (1514), Kupferstichkabinett Berlin – Beauty, Old Age and Death in the Image of the Renaissance… Albrecht Dürer’s large portrait drawing of his 63-year-old mother is one of the most valuable treasures in the Berlin Kupferstichkabinett. Works by Dürer have fascinated the artist Mathias Waske all his life. But those who know the artist are aware of his critical reinterpretation of old masters and will not be surprised to see the portrait doubled up with a cigarette and smoking intensely. The progressive physical decay of the collective is pre-programmed.