Plate #61 from Urformen der Kunst (Art Forms in Nature) by Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932), German instructor of sculpture who used his remarkable photographs of plant studies to educate his students about design elements in nature. In fact, his photogravures influenced many architects and decorative artists of his time. Self-taught in photography, he devoted himself to the study of nature, photographing nothing but flowers, buds and seed capsules for thirty-five years. Blossfeldt's photographs were made with a homemade camera that could magnify the subject up to thirty times its actual size, revealing extraordinary details within the natural structure of the plants. With this process, he created some of the most innovative photographic work of his time. The simple yet expressive forms captured on film led to Urformen der Kunst, a collection of his photographs published in 1928. (At the time he was a professor of applied art at the Berliner Kunsthochschule) The photogravures were of supreme quality and what they revealed could be applied to objects and architecture. More of his photographs were published in Wundergarten der Natur in 1932.

The offered photogravure is from an original publication of Urformen der Kunst, - Plate # 61: Salvia Argentea (magnified 4 times), 1928. It is archivally mounted and in a book mat. (The book and title page from which these photogravures came are images 3 and 4 - NFS.) Conditions: Excellent. Dimensions: Mat: 20 x 16 inches; Page: 12-1/8 x 9-1/2 inches. Payment by PayPal. Note: We make every effort to describe our offerings as thoroughly as possible, but please look closely at the images for the clearest picture of condition. We are happy to answer questions, but caution bidders that all items are sold "as is", unless they are clearly not as described.