(known in English as ''Art Forms in Nature'') is a book of lithographic and

halftone Halftone is the reprographic Reprography (a portmanteau of ''reproduction'' and ''photography'') is the reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means, such as photography or xerography. Reprography is commonly used in catal ...

prints by German biologist

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...

Publication

Originally published in sets of ten between 1899 and 1904 and collectively in two volumes in 1904, 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 engravings were produced based on Haeckel's sketches and watercolors; many of the best of these were chosen for , translated from sketch to print by lithographer Adolf Giltsch. A second edition of , containing only 30 prints, was produced in 1914.

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 plates are

symmetry Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definit ...

and level of organization. The subjects were selected to embody these to the full, from the scale patterns of boxfishes to the spirals of

ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...

s to the perfect symmetries of jellies and microorganisms, while images composing each plate are arranged for maximum visual impact. 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.

Influence

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 Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

were influenced by Haeckel's images, including René Binet, Karl Blossfeldt,

Hans Christiansen Hans Christiansen may refer to: * Hans Christiansen (sailor) * Hans Christiansen (artist) Hans Christiansen (6 March 1866 in Flensburg – 5 January 1945 in Wiesbaden) was a German craftsman and painter of the Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("You ...

, and Émile Gallé. One prominent example is the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange designed by Hendrik Petrus Berlage: it was in part inspired by illustrations.Breidbach, ''Visions of Nature'', pp. 231, 268-269

Gallery of prints

Haeckel's original classifications appear in ''italics''. File:Haeckel Actiniae.jpg,

Sea anemone Sea anemones are a group of predation, predatory marine invertebrates of the order (biology), order Actiniaria. Because of their colourful appearance, they are named after the ''Anemone'', a terrestrial flowering plant. Sea anemones are classifi ...

(''Actiniae'') File:Haeckel Anthomedusae.jpg, Anthomedusa (''Anthomedusae'') File:Siphonophorae. - Staatsquallen LCCN2015648923.jpg, Siphonophore (''Siphonophorae'') File:Haeckel Diatomea 4.jpg, Diatoms (''Diatomea'') File:Haeckel Antilopina.jpg,

Antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

(''Antilopina'') File:Haeckel Arachnida.jpg, Arachnid (''Arachnida'') File:Haeckel Ascidiae.jpg, Ascidian (''Ascidiae'') File:Haeckel Batrachia.jpg, Frog (''Batrachia'') File:Haeckel Bryozoa.jpg, '' Bryozoa'' File:Haeckel Chelonia.jpg, Turtle (''Chelonia'') File:Haeckel Ciliata.jpg, Ciliate (''Ciliata'') File:Haeckel Chaetopoda.jpg,

Annelid The annelids (Annelida , from Latin ', "little ring"), also known as the segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 22,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecol ...

(''Chaetopoda'') File:Haeckel Chiroptera.jpg, Bat (''Chiroptera'') File:Haeckel Coniferae.jpg,

Conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

(''Coniferae'') File:Haeckel Copepoda.jpg,

Copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

(''Copepoda'') File:Haeckel Cubomedusae.jpg, Box jellyfish (''Cubomedusae'') File:Haeckel Decapoda.jpg, Decapods (''Decapoda'') File:Haeckel Gamochonia Tafel 054 300.jpg,

Cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...

(''Gamochonia'') File:Haeckel Filicinae 92.jpg, Fern (''Filicinae'') File:Haeckel Florideae.jpg,

Red Algae Red algae, or Rhodophyta (, ; ), are one of the oldest groups of eukaryotic algae. The Rhodophyta also comprises one of the largest phyla of algae, containing over 7,000 currently recognized species with taxonomic revisions ongoing. The majority ...

(''Florideae'') File:Haeckel Lichenes.jpg,

Lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

(''Lacertilia'') File:Haeckel Muscinae.jpg,

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

(''Muscinae'') File:Haeckel Nepenthaceae.jpg, ''

Nepenthes ''Nepenthes'' () is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are mos ...

'' (''Nepenthaceae'') File:Haeckel Nudibranchia.jpg, Nudibranch (''Nudibranchia'') File:Haeckel Narcomedusae.jpg, Trachylina (''Narcomedusae'') File:Haeckel Orchidae.jpg, Orchid (''Orchidae'') File:Haeckel Ostraciontes.jpg, Boxfish (''Ostraciontes'') File:Haeckel Prosobranchia.jpg, '' Prosobranchia (obsolete classification)'' File:Haeckel Siphonophorae.jpg, '' Siphonophorae'' File:Haeckel Spumellaria.jpg, Polycystine (''Spumellaria'') File:Haeckel Stephoidea edit.jpg, Radiolarian (''Stephoidea'') File:Haeckel Tineida.jpg, Moth (''Tineida'') File:Haeckel Trochilidae.jpg,

Hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

(''Trochilidae'') File:Haeckel Tubulariae.jpg, Tubularia (''Tubulariae'') File:Cirripedia. - Rankenkreble LCCN2015648939.jpg File:Haeckel Cirripedia.jpg, Cirripedia, , (1904).

References

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

External links

Marine Biological Laboratory Library
- An exhibition of material on Haeckel, including background on many plates.
University Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
- An Ernst Haeckel exhibition from 2005 pairing prints from with modern sculptures.

- An online version of with 300 dpi scans of the 100 plates, their scheme plates, the accompanying description, table of contents and supplement pages (in german).
Ernst Haeckel's as zoomable images
- One hundred plates of (requires flash).

{{Authority control Natural history Biology books Science in art 1899 non-fiction books 1904 non-fiction books Art Nouveau works Animals in art 1899 in biology