Art forms of nature
Kunstformen der Natur is a book by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel that mainly contains lithographs . It was originally published in ten individual volumes between 1899 and 1904 and finally as a complete edition in 1904.
description
The book contains 100 prints with panels of various organisms, most of which were described by Haeckel for the first time. They represent a selection of over 1000 engravings that were created on the basis of sketches and watercolors by Haeckel during his lifetime. Haeckel commissioned the lithographer and printer's owner Adolf Giltsch (1852–1911) with the artistic execution of the figures and panels , with whom he was to work for a total of 42 years and who also used Haeckel's hand drawings in many of his works with “lively interest” and the “drive of knowledge true natural scientist ”corrected and improved, as Haeckel appreciatively emphasized.
Especially noteworthy are the representations of various are Strahlentierchen (Radiolaria), which are especially popular since the publication of the book still lay under micro copiers. A large number of other depictions show cnidarians , e.g. B. sea anemones , state jellyfish and flag jellyfish . The first volume also contained Desmonema annasethe (now Cyanea annasethe ), a particularly splendid jellyfish that Haeckel named after his wife Anna Sethe.
In 1904 Haeckel once again justified the aim of the work: “The main purpose of my 'Art Forms of Nature' was an aesthetic one: I wanted to open up access to the wonderful treasures of beauty that were hidden in the depths of the sea or, because of their small size, only through can be seen through the microscope. But I also combine this with a scientific purpose, to provide insight into the miraculous structure of the peculiar organizations of these forms. "
Art forms of nature greatly influenced the art of the first half of the 20th century and formed a bridge between it and science. The work is generally associated with Art Nouveau . Influenced artists included René Binet , Karl Blossfeldt , Hans Christiansen , Hendrik Petrus Berlage and Émile Gallé .
expenditure
- Ernst Haeckel: Art Forms of Nature. 100 illustration panels with descriptive text (edition from 1904), this edition newly set and revised, four-color, Marix Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2004, ISBN 978-3937715-17-9
- Ernst Häckel: Art forms of nature: the one hundred color plates in facsimile with descriptive text, general explanation and systematic overview , new printer of the first edition, Leipzig, Vienna, Bibliogr. Inst., 1998 = 1904 (in facsimile quality) ISBN 3-7913-1979-5
- Ernst Haeckel: Art Forms in Nature , Dover Publications, Inc., 1974 (in English; original text replaced by publisher notes) ISBN 0-486-22987-4
Examples
swell
- ^ Olaf Breidbach: Visions of Nature: The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel . Prestel Verlag: München, 2006. P. 231, P. 268-269.
literature
- Ernst Haeckel, Olaf Breidbach, Irenäus Eibl-Eibesfeldt : Art forms in nature (paperback), Prestel Verlag, 1998 ISBN 978-3-7913-1978-0
Web links
- Complete scan of the 1900 edition at www.biolib.de by Kurt Stüber, MPiZ Cologne
- Ernst Haeckel [Hrsg.]: Kunstformen der Natur: Hundred illustration panels with descriptive text, general explanations and systematic overview, Leipzig [u. a.] (digitized version)