Karl Blossfeldt, The Complete Published Work

Hard cover 8vo, in trade pictorial paper covered boards, text in English, German and French, with red endpaper wrapper printed in white and red encasing fore-edge of text, Publisher's 45th anniversary edition, redesigned from 1999 first publication, 511 [512] pp. This anthology features images from the German horticultural photographer KARL BLOSSFELDT (1865-1932), considered a pioneer of "microphotography" who employed a self-designed camera utilizing magnifying lenses and other unique constructions to produce these amazing close-up black and white photogravure images of scientific and artistic merit. Students of the Art Nouveau, whether in book design, architecture, or other decorative objects will find these forms inspirational. Blossfeldt was, in fact, a Professor of sculpture and design at The Royal School of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin beginning in 1898, and used the 6,000 photographs as design resources for his sculpture students. Today, the original prints are highly collectable. Includes Bibliography of books by Karl Blossfeldt, Biography, and chapters on three original publications: the seminal work Art Forms in Nature (Urformen der Kunst) of 1928, Magic Garden of Nature, (Wundergarten der Natur) of 1932 and 1942's Magic in Nature, (Wunder in der Natur). "German photography pioneer Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) photographed plants so beautifully, and with such originality, that his work transcends the medium itself. His monochrome photographs present semi-abstracted studies of diverse flora, bridging the 19th- and 20th-century worlds of image-making and bringing a distinctly sculptural aspect to a two-dimensional medium. This volume collects all known published images, capturing the innate visual poetry and formal elegance of plants." (blurb) Securely packed in boxes for shipping. (AMJ).…