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    Ernst Haeckel was a biologist and accomplished artist who published Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), a collection of 100 biological illustrations highlighting the diversity and beauty of organisms such as radiolarians, corals, jellyfish, and plants. The illustrations were based on Haeckel's detailed sketches and watercolors created during his field work. The illustrations emphasized the forms, symmetry, texture of organisms over taxonomy. Haeckel's illustrations provide striking visualizations of the intricate structures of organisms and inspired further study and artistic styles.

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    Ernst Haeckel was a biologist and accomplished artist who published Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), a collection of 100 biological illustrations highlighting the diversity and beauty of organisms such as radiolarians, corals, jellyfish, and plants. The illustrations were based on Haeckel's detailed sketches and watercolors created during his field work. The illustrations emphasized the forms, symmetry, texture of organisms over taxonomy. Haeckel's illustrations provide striking visualizations of the intricate structures of organisms and inspired further study and artistic styles.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    5 views29 pages

    Classics: Art Forms in Nature

    Uploaded by

    Marlon Oliveira
    Ernst Haeckel was a biologist and accomplished artist who published Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), a collection of 100 biological illustrations highlighting the diversity and beauty of organisms such as radiolarians, corals, jellyfish, and plants. The illustrations were based on Haeckel's detailed sketches and watercolors created during his field work. The illustrations emphasized the forms, symmetry, texture of organisms over taxonomy. Haeckel's illustrations provide striking visualizations of the intricate structures of organisms and inspired further study and artistic styles.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 29

    CLASSICS

    Art Forms in Nature


    This is an unusual Classics, as we are reproducing here, not Ernst Haeckel’s writings but his illustrations
    of the biological world instead. Haeckel was not only a biologist par excellence but also an accomplished
    artist with outstanding power of observation and a passion for Nature. Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms
    in Nature) is a marvellous collection of biological illustrations, in which Haeckel highlighted the diversity,
    geometry, and beauty of the living world. The Kunstformen consists of 100 lithographic and halftone prints
    based on Haeckel’s sketches and watercolours, which were often created on the spot during his field trips.
    Many of the organisms were also first described by Haeckel himself. The book has organisms ranging
    from radiolarians, foraminiferans, and flagellates to diatoms, red algae, fungi, sponges, corals, jellyfish,
    siphonophores, brittlestars, spiders, boxfish, hummingbirds, and antelope. The emphasis is not so much on
    taxonomy (which Haeckel has contributed to elsewhere, see General Article on Haeckel in this issue), but on
    symmetry, shape, and texture. As one goes through the pages of the Kunstformen (full book available at
    http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/haeckel/kunstformen/Haeckel_Kunstformen.pdf and at
    https://archive.org/details/ArtFormsOfNatureByErnstHaeckl/page/n1 and plates available
    at various sites), the diversity of shapes and forms is striking. Ethereally floating, beautifully coloured
    jellyfish and siphonophores provide a striking contrast to the spiny spicules of corals and rigid spirals of
    ammonites detailed in black and white. Radiolarians and foraminiferans are rendered in almost unbe-
    lievably intricate detail – their fine structures have been subsequently confirmed with the use of electron
    microscopy. Many plates offer views of organisms from various angles, illustrating symmetry of form and
    some anatomical details. The emphasis on form and geometry and contrasts of delicate details and sharp
    edges leave one marvelling at Nature itself and Haeckel’s visualisation of it. Haeckel’s tendency to idealise
    Nature is evident in some plates and this style of almost surreal depiction has had a strong emotional appeal
    to artists and is thought to be a forerunner of the Art Nouveau movement.

    I hope you will enjoy the selection of plates from the Kunstformen reproduced here and are inspired to visit
    the complete book.

    T N C Vidya
    Evolutionary and Organismal Biology Unit
    Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
    Jakkur
    Bengaluru 560064, India.
    Email: tncvidya@gmail.com

    RESONANCE | November 2018 1283


    CLASSICS

    Kunstformen der Natur (Art Forms in Nature), Haeckel 1904. Published in installments
    of 10 plates between 1899 and 1904.

    Book in public domain. Please see page 1283 for links to the book.

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