to ask if this artist sounds familiar? (a little afternoon detective work)

[borntobeadancer]

Eldest DS has some art homework and last night he was showing me what he's done. Although I'm an accountant (or, was, before becoming SAHP) I did do Art at A-Level and I was wondering if any of the arty ladies on here can tell me the name of an artist I remember some work of, to show him about (to inspire him - his work is along the same lines).

I just can't think of the name, and I've googled every combination of description and still can't find out which artist it is! I don't have anyone to ask in the family either, no arty types at all.

Right - got your thinking caps on?

Gothic-style, very dark
Old artist - maybe 16th century?
Drew lots of people in harsh black lines - like something out of a nightmare
Sketches, not paintings - but full images, not just a person viewed in isolation sometimes
Really quite disturbing in how dark the strokes of the drawing were - if you can imagine a biro pen (not that they had them hundreds of years ago ) that sort of sketching
Possibly the name begins with a G and the artist's name was quite Germanic, maybe Dutch

Sound familiar? Does anyone have any suggestions on which artist I might be (barely) remembering?

Bosch? Albrecht Dürer? But Grunewald fits....

Albrecht Durer.

Not that one, I've been googling - good guess though!

That one is quite similar to the drawings I'm thinking of.

I don't remember if there was a specific religious angle to the ones I've seen in the past, but I should think so - I seem to remember little bits and pieces like humans with little imps and devils, so unlikely to be not religious - esp. considering that I'm sure they were hundreds of years old If it helps, I'm sure the artist I'm thinking about was (is) quite famous - it was in a book I was flicking through, and since the art education I had at school wasn't ground breaking in any way (just bog standard schooling, not private, no specialist art focus) I'm hoping the fame of this artist will help the lovely people trying to help me here identify him with some ease.

The artist was definitely male, I realise I haven't posted that!

Albrecht Durer?

Goya? Try looking at the British Museum's online database - you can search for records with images and once you get past portraits of him you can see his prints?

www.google.co.uk/search?q=durer&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=fRN&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&prmd=ivnsb&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=QKkAToO2Do6XhQfSpeCMDQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1270&bih=533

some of his are quite dark.

not Bosch, although whilst I've been looking through examples this made me jump a little! Scary little thing that!

This is similar to what I'm thinking of again, but it's too "finished" - it's polished - the ones I'm remembering are far more sketchy, not neatly done

sorry - link is here: tinyurl.com/3wk6vqb

Hendrick Goltzius?

www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=hendrick+goltzius&aq=0&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=hendrick+gol&oi=image_result_group&sa=X

Goya? Spanish, lots of dark lines

Goya! That's it! Thank you Lambethmum!

Albrecht Durer is also a good example of the style I was trying to show DS - I've never heard of him but will pass on examples. A very good alternative example.

But GOYA was what I was thinking of - the trees/bats/humans in the wastelands were the images I've seen in the past (example - quite a disturbing image though so click with caution).

Blast! too late

the link is like Bruegel?

Didn't Goya draw a series on the Effects of War or some name like that. I think he went mad - not that you'd know from his work ...

I'm too late too! Glad to help...

Also thank you to everyone who offered help - I knew I should have posted on here sooner rather than spend an hour searching for all sorts of word combinations that i thought would help in google! I knew the moment I saw it written that it was Goya I was thinking of, it was on the edge of my tongue all along.

Sorted! That didn't even take that long - the next bit of collective detective work for the MN crowd needs to be at a more complicated level I think