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Today, Karl Blossfeldt's plant photographs are regarded as milestones of "Neue Sachlichkeit" photography. For him personally, nothing was further from his mind than making artistic claims for his photographs. His training as a sculptor in an art foundry in the rural Harz region already focused on ornamental decorations based on nature and illustrates how little ambition he had towards artistic self-portrayal. Parallel to subsequent basic studies at the Unterrichtsanstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums in Berlin, he joined a project of the drawing teacher Moritz Meurer in Rome that lasted several years. Here the focus was on the production of teaching materials for ornamental design, and Blossfeldt's travels took him not only to Italy but also to other southern European countries. After successfully completing his studies, he taught the class "Modeling from Living Plants" as a professor for more than 30 years at the Lehranstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums, which later merged with the Vereinigte Staatsschulen. These in turn formed one of the forerunners of today's Berlin University of the Arts. Another parallel with Blossfeldt's work, which by his own admission was characterised by pure craftsmanship and yet was declared to be art.
In the process, Blossfeldt had merely captured close-ups of parts of plants which he had previously prepared himself. Thousands of buds, flowers and stems passed through his hand for the purpose of documentation. His camera was probably built entirely or in parts by himself in order to be able to realize this result perfectly. The aim was to create a detailed image of plant forms that would enable students to have a natural visual impression. The plants used until then quickly lost their authentic appearance due to drying, growth or withering and thus, in his opinion, considerably distorted the result. Magnifications that varied between 12x and 45x made it possible to reproduce every detail, no matter how small. Above all, photographs offered the advantage over drawings that no artistic interpretation by a draughtsman had been incorporated. Since the photographs were projected on the wall in class, a clear and sharp image against a neutral or white background was especially important.
The well-known Berlin gallery owner Karl Nierendorf was immediately struck by the artistic nature of the plant photographs, and in 1926 he brought them together in an exhibition with sculptures from Africa and New Guinea, as well as with works by the artist Richard Janthur, who was later classified as degenerate by the Nazis. Two years later, Nierendorf initiated the book Urformen der Kunst, which was published by Wasmuth Verlag in Berlin and reprinted for many years. In the year of Blossfeldt's death, his second publication "Wundergarten der Natur" appeared. With his plant photographs, Blossfeldt himself hoped on the one hand to "re-establish the connection with nature", and on the other hand he wanted to "point out the abundant wealth of forms in nature" and encourage people to explore and observe the native plant world on their own. In conjunction with the timeless aesthetics of the photographs, this intention seems more contemporary than ever.
Today, Karl Blossfeldt's plant photographs are regarded as milestones of "Neue Sachlichkeit" photography. For him personally, nothing was further from his mind than making artistic claims for his photographs. His training as a sculptor in an art foundry in the rural Harz region already focused on ornamental decorations based on nature and illustrates how little ambition he had towards artistic self-portrayal. Parallel to subsequent basic studies at the Unterrichtsanstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums in Berlin, he joined a project of the drawing teacher Moritz Meurer in Rome that lasted several years. Here the focus was on the production of teaching materials for ornamental design, and Blossfeldt's travels took him not only to Italy but also to other southern European countries. After successfully completing his studies, he taught the class "Modeling from Living Plants" as a professor for more than 30 years at the Lehranstalt des Kunstgewerbemuseums, which later merged with the Vereinigte Staatsschulen. These in turn formed one of the forerunners of today's Berlin University of the Arts. Another parallel with Blossfeldt's work, which by his own admission was characterised by pure craftsmanship and yet was declared to be art.
In the process, Blossfeldt had merely captured close-ups of parts of plants which he had previously prepared himself. Thousands of buds, flowers and stems passed through his hand for the purpose of documentation. His camera was probably built entirely or in parts by himself in order to be able to realize this result perfectly. The aim was to create a detailed image of plant forms that would enable students to have a natural visual impression. The plants used until then quickly lost their authentic appearance due to drying, growth or withering and thus, in his opinion, considerably distorted the result. Magnifications that varied between 12x and 45x made it possible to reproduce every detail, no matter how small. Above all, photographs offered the advantage over drawings that no artistic interpretation by a draughtsman had been incorporated. Since the photographs were projected on the wall in class, a clear and sharp image against a neutral or white background was especially important.
The well-known Berlin gallery owner Karl Nierendorf was immediately struck by the artistic nature of the plant photographs, and in 1926 he brought them together in an exhibition with sculptures from Africa and New Guinea, as well as with works by the artist Richard Janthur, who was later classified as degenerate by the Nazis. Two years later, Nierendorf initiated the book Urformen der Kunst, which was published by Wasmuth Verlag in Berlin and reprinted for many years. In the year of Blossfeldt's death, his second publication "Wundergarten der Natur" appeared. With his plant photographs, Blossfeldt himself hoped on the one hand to "re-establish the connection with nature", and on the other hand he wanted to "point out the abundant wealth of forms in nature" and encourage people to explore and observe the native plant world on their own. In conjunction with the timeless aesthetics of the photographs, this intention seems more contemporary than ever.
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329993).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329925).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330022).jpg "Plant Study (series title) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-264997).jpg "Study of three species of plant, 1929 by Karl Blossfeldt")
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.jpg "Adiantum Pedatum - American Maidenhair Fern, Young Rolled-up Fronds Enlarged Eight Times by Karl Blossfeldt")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-233732).jpg "Aristolochia Clematitis, 1929 by Karl Blossfeldt")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-256965).jpg "Cornus Nuttallii, 1929 by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329978).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329991).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329951).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330038).jpg "Plant Study (series title) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-266483).jpg "Horsetail Rush by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-310278).jpg "Vaccinium Corymbosum by Karl Blossfeldt")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-251193).jpg "Impatiens glandulifera, 1929 by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329962).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330007).jpg "Plant Study (series title) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329910).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329936).jpg "Plant Studies (Urformen der Kunst: photographic plant images series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329904).jpg "Plant Study by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329912).jpg "Plant Studies (Urformen der Kunst: photographic plant images series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329972).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330041).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329938).jpg "Plant Studies (Urformen der Kunst: photographic plant images series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1101526).jpg "Original forms of art (Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1102026).jpg "Original forms of art by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329957).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329957).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330015).jpg "Plant Studies: Photographic Plant Images (series title) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-322926).jpg "Geum Rivale by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329947).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330042).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329924).jpg "Plant Studies (Urformen der Kunst: photographic plant images series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329924).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330006).jpg "Plant Study (series title) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329974).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329966).jpg "Plant Studies (series title: Urformen der Kunst: Photographic Plant Images) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329976).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329889).jpg "Plant Study by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329920).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_c1928_(gelatin_silver_print)_-_(MeisterDrucke-892656).jpg "Serratula Nudicaulis (Bare-stemmed Common Sawwort) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329930).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329968).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329960).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-322053).jpg "Salvia by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329939).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329917).jpg)
 - (MeisterDrucke-174715).jpg "Koelpinia Linearis by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329942).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329942).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329945).jpg "Plant Studies (Urformen der Kunst: photographic plant images series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329945).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330000).jpg "Plant Study (series title) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329931).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329908).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329906).jpg "Plant Studies (Urformen der Kunst: photographic plant images series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329913).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329913).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329981).jpg "Plant Study, Equisetum hiemale (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329970).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329985).jpg "Plant Study (series title: Urformen der Kunst) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329944).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329891).jpg "Plant Study by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329901).jpg "Plant Study by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329949).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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 - (MeisterDrucke-191621).jpg "Cynara cardunculus 1929 by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1329943).jpg "Plant Study (Urformen der Kunst series) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1330027).jpg "Plant Study (series title) by Karl Blossfeldt")
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