Kunstformen der Natur

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Template:Short description Template:Italic title Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherTemplate:Main otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Wikidata image Script error: No such module "Lang". (known in English as Art Forms in Nature) is a book of lithographic and halftone prints by German biologist Ernst Haeckel.

Publication

Originally published in sets of ten between 1899 and 1904 and collectively in two volumes in 1904,[1] it consists of 100 prints of various organisms, many of which were first described by Haeckel himself. Over the course of his career, over 1000 prints were produced based on Haeckel's sketches and watercolors; many of the best of these were chosen for Script error: No such module "Lang"., translated from sketch to print by lithographer Adolf Giltsch.[2]

A second edition of Script error: No such module "Lang"., containing only 30 prints, was produced in 1914.

File:Haeckel Discomedusae 8.jpg
The 8th print, Discomedusae. The center and bottom-center images are Desmonema annasethe.[3]

Themes

According to Haeckel scholar Olaf Breidbach, the work was "not just a book of illustrations but also the summation of his view of the world." The over-riding themes of the Script error: No such module "Lang". plates are symmetry and level of organization. The subjects were selected to embody these to the full, from the scale patterns of boxfishes to the spirals of ammonites to the perfect symmetries of jellies and microorganisms, while images composing each plate are arranged for maximum visual impact.[4]

Among the notable prints are numerous radiolarians, which Haeckel helped to popularize among amateur microscopists; at least one example is found in almost every set of 10. Cnidaria also feature prominently throughout the book, including sea anemones as well as Siphonophorae, Semaeostomeae, and other medusae. The first set included Desmonema annasethe (now Cyanea annasethe), a particularly striking jellyfish that Haeckel observed and described shortly after the death of his wife Anna Sethe; the tentacles reminded him of her long flowing hair.[3]

Influence

Script error: No such module "Lang". was influential in early 20th-century art, architecture, and design, bridging the gap between science and art. In particular, many artists associated with Art Nouveau were influenced by Haeckel's images, including René Binet, Karl Blossfeldt, Hans Christiansen, and Émile Gallé. One prominent example is the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange designed by Hendrik Petrus Berlage: it was in part inspired by Script error: No such module "Lang". illustrations.[5]

Gallery of prints

Haeckel's original classifications appear in italics.

See also

References

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  • Breidbach, Olaf. Visions of Nature: The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel. Prestel Verlag: Munich, 2006.

External links

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Breidbach, Visions of Nature, p. 253
  3. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Breidbach, Visions of Nature, pp. 229-231
  5. ↑ Breidbach, Visions of Nature, pp. 231, 268-269
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