HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

(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, 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 and level of organization. The subjects were selected to embody these to the full, from the scale patterns of
boxfish Ostraciidae is a family of squared, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfishes. It contains ...
es to the spirals of ammonites 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 Cnidaria () is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in freshwater and marine environments, predominantly the latter. Their distinguishing feature is cnidocytes, specialized cells that ...
also feature prominently throughout the book, including sea anemones as well as Siphonophorae,
Semaeostomeae Semaeostomeae (literally "flag mouths") is an order of large jellyfish characterized by four long, frilly oral arms flanking their quadrate mouths. The umbrella is domed with scalloped margins, and the gastrovascular system consists of four unbr ...
, and other medusae. The first set included ''Desmonema annasethe'' (now '' Cyanea annasethe''), a particularly striking
jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbre ...
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 were influenced by Haeckel's images, including René Binet, Karl Blossfeldt, Hans Christiansen, and
Émile Gallé Émile Gallé (8 May 1846 in Nancy – 23 September 1904 in Nancy) was a French artist and designer who worked in glass, and is considered to be one of the major innovators in the French Art Nouveau movement. He was noted for his designs of ...
. One prominent example is the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange designed by
Hendrik Petrus Berlage Hendrik Petrus Berlage (21 February 1856 – 12 August 1934) was a Dutch architect. He is considered one of the fathers of the architecture of the Amsterdam School. Life and work Hendrik Petrus Berlage, son of Nicolaas Willem Berlage and An ...
: 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 (''Actiniae'') File:Haeckel Anthomedusae.jpg,
Anthomedusa Anthoathecata, or the athecate hydroids, are an order of hydrozoans belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. A profusion of alternate scientific names exists for this long-known, heavily discussed, and spectacular group. It has also been called Gymno ...
(''Anthomedusae'') File:Siphonophorae. - Staatsquallen LCCN2015648923.jpg, Siphonophore (''Siphonophorae'') File:Haeckel Diatomea 4.jpg,
Diatoms A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...
(''Diatomea'') File:Haeckel Antilopina.jpg, Antelope (''Antilopina'') File:Haeckel Arachnida.jpg, Arachnid (''Arachnida'') File:Haeckel Ascidiae.jpg, Ascidian (''Ascidiae'') File:Haeckel Batrachia.jpg,
Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
(''Batrachia'') File:Haeckel Bryozoa.jpg, ''
Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...
'' File:Haeckel Chelonia.jpg, Turtle (''Chelonia'') File:Haeckel Ciliata.jpg,
Ciliate The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a differen ...
(''Ciliata'') File:Haeckel Chaetopoda.jpg, Annelid (''Chaetopoda'') File:Haeckel Chiroptera.jpg, Bat (''Chiroptera'') File:Haeckel Coniferae.jpg, Conifer (''Coniferae'') File:Haeckel Copepoda.jpg, Copepod (''Copepoda'') File:Haeckel Cubomedusae.jpg, Box jellyfish (''Cubomedusae'') File:Haeckel Decapoda.jpg, Decapods (''Decapoda'') File:Haeckel Gamochonia Tafel 054 300.jpg, Cephalopod (''Gamochonia'') File:Haeckel Filicinae 92.jpg, Fern (''Filicinae'') File:Haeckel Florideae.jpg, Red Algae (''Florideae'') File:Haeckel Lichenes.jpg, Lichen (''Lichenes'') File:Haeckel Lacertilia.jpg, Lizard (''Lacertilia'') File:Haeckel Muscinae.jpg, Moss (''Muscinae'') File:Haeckel Nepenthaceae.jpg, '' Nepenthes'' (''Nepenthaceae'') File:Haeckel Nudibranchia.jpg, Nudibranch (''Nudibranchia'') File:Haeckel Narcomedusae.jpg, Trachylina (''Narcomedusae'') File:Haeckel Orchidae.jpg, Orchid (''Orchidae'') File:Haeckel Ostraciontes.jpg,
Boxfish Ostraciidae is a family of squared, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfishes. It contains ...
(''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 (''Trochilidae'') File:Haeckel Tubulariae.jpg, Tubularia (''Tubulariae'') File:Cirripedia. - Rankenkreble LCCN2015648939.jpg File:Haeckel Cirripedia.jpg, Cirripedia, , (1904).


See also

* '' On Growth and Form''


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