Master of the Housebook
engraver and painter working in South Germany
Years: 1430 - 1500
Master of the Housebook and Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet are two names used for an engraver and painter working in South Germany in the last quarter of the fifteenth century.
He is apparently the first artist to use drypoint, a form of engraving, for all of his prints (other than woodcuts he may have designed).
The first name derives from his book of drawings with watercolor, called the Housebook, which belongs to the German noble family of Waldburg-Wolfegg from the seventeenth century until 2008, when they are reported to have sold it for €20 million to a Swiss buyer.
However the legality of its sale for export has been challenged, and for the moment it remains with the family.
In 1999, the book is loaned to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. for an exhibition.
The majority of his surviving prints are in the print room at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, hence his second name.
Most, but not all, art historians still agree that the Housebook and the prints are by the same artist.
