Karl Blossfeldt Boeken

Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) achieved overnight fame in the late 1920s with the first publication of his photographs of plants. Those photographs, which revealed the inner structures of the organic forms, immediately made him a pioneer of New Objectivity - an innovative movement in art and photography of the 1920s and 1930s. Blossfeldt, however, was neither a trained photographer nor a botanist. He was a sculptor and art professor who did his photographic work to generate teaching material for his students. The publication of this book is the result of an extraordinary event - the 1997 discovery in Blossfeldt's estate of 61 previously unknown collages, in virtually mint condition, of photographic contact prints arranged on large cardboard sheets. Blossfeldt apparently used these to study the relation and similarity of the photographs and to compare them graphically and aesthetically. On some Blossfeldt had made marks or handwritten notations. Others show lines for cropping. The collages, published here, unveil a hidden treasure of modern photography and cast fresh light on the systematic approach Blossfeldt used in his photographic studies. All collages are reproduced in four colours. Introducing the book is an essay by Swiss art historian Ulrike Meyer-Stump, a contributing curator to the exhibitions at the Kunsthaus in Zurich

The iconic German photographer Karl Blossfeldt's stunning plant photography is presented here for the first time in an English language edition with beautifully printed duotones that do justice to the work of this turn of the century master. A truly stunning and important book.

Karl Blossfeldt’s plant photographs from the 1920s are a milestone in 20th-century photography. Celebrated by artists, craftsmen and architects alike, for whom they were intended as a catalogue of ornamental and structural forms.

Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) photographed thousands of plants; these are almost never seen from above, but rather from the side, and against a neutral background. This book featuers these images of plants.

Using innovative techniques, photographer Blossfeldt produced arresting images of seed pods, buds, stems, and other botanical items. This spectacular collection features scores of his remarkable photographs of plant life, offering artists and craftspeople a treasury of royalty-free pictures and design inspirations. 120 full-page black-and-white plates.

Originally intended as reference for his work as architect, sculptor, and teacher, Blossfeldt's exquisite sharp-focus photo studies of plant form — leaves, buds, stems, seed pods, tendrils and twigs — won acclaim with publication of the 1928 edition of this book. 120 full-page black-and-white plates. Original introduction. Publisher's Note. Captions.

Through Blossfeldt's lens, plants and flowers become gorgeous formal gestures Karl Blossfeldt was a pioneer of botanical photography, though his interest in the plant world was initially educational. Fascinated by the structure of plants, whose seemingly artistic forms resulted from biological necessity, he realized that photography could be a useful teaching tool, allowing his students to see and compare natural forms. Working with a homemade camera, Blossfeldt gathered and photographed his own plant samples, magnifying them by up to 45 times. From around 1898 onward, he shot some 6,000 images, which he used primarily as visual aids in his classes. Eventually published as Art Forms in Nature(1928) and Art Forms in Nature, Second Series(1932), Blossfeldt's photographs had a lasting impact on the art of his day and were enthusiastically embraced by both the Surrealist and New Objectivity movements. His books brought him overnight fame and are still considered landmarks in the history of art and photography. Karl Blossfeldt: Masterworkspresents a remarkable collection of Blossfeldt's strikingly austere yet poetic portraits of plants, which capture their timeless beauty in intimate detail.

„Begegnung / Encounter: Neo Rauch – Karl Blossfeldt“ ist der Auftakt einer neuen Themenreihe der Grafikstiftung Neo Rauch. Im Dialog der ersten Begegnung steht die Formensprache der Werke des deutschen Fotopioniers Karl Blossfeldt mit den aus diesem Anlass entstandenen Papierarbeiten des Malers Neo Rauch.

Die Pflanzenbilder des deutschen Fotopioniers Karl Blossfeldt (1865–1932) sind von einer solchen Schönheit und Originalität, dass sie das Medium der Fotografie transzendieren. Über 30 Jahre lang nahm Blossfeldt Tausende von Fotos auf, in einer rigorosen Formensprache, die die Bildproduktion des 19. Jahrhunderts ins 20. Jahrhundert überführte und der eigentlich zweidimensionalen Kunstform eine geradezu skulpturale Qualität verlieh. Die ebenso raffiniert wie minimalistisch vor einfachen Papphintergründen inszenierten Bilder erhalten ihre Plastizität durch Blossfeldts virtuose Lichtregie. Sie geben alles von sich, nichts jedoch von dem Mann hinter der Kamera preis. Diese Stillleben, die ihre Objekte so endgültig in Form bannen, sind ein Meilenstein der Fotografiegeschichte und üben aufgrund ihrer Ästhetik noch immer eine anhaltende Faszination auf alle Kenner des Mediums aus.