Karl Blossfeldt

About the Artist

Unknown photographer. Karl Blossfeldt Examining Leaves. c. 1894. Karl Blossfeldt/Archiv Ann and Jürgen Wilde. © Karl Blossfeldt/Archiv Ann and Jürgen Wilde, Zürich/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 2014

Karl Blossfeldt is best known for his precise photographs of plants; however, he began his career as a sculptor, completing apprenticeships at the ironworks and foundry in Mägdesprung and the Kunstgewerbeschule (Institute of the royal arts museum) in Berlin from 1884 to 1890. From 1890 to 1996 he travelled through Italy, Greece, and North Africa, working for Moritz Meurer, who theorized that natural forms were reproduced in art. From 1898 to 1930 Blossfeldt taught at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Berlin; during this time, he amassed an archive of thousands of photographs of plants that he used as models to teach his students. Never formally trained in photography, Blossfeldt made many of his photographs with a camera that he altered to photograph plant surfaces with unprecedented magnification. His pictures achieved notoriety among the artistic avant-garde with the support of gallerist Karl Nierendorf, who mounted a solo show of the pictures paired with African sculptures at his gallery in 1926 and, subsequently, produced the first edition of Blossdeldt’s monograph Urformen der Kunst (Art forms in nature), in 1928. Following the enormous success of the book, Blossfeldt published a second volume of his plant pictures, titled Wundergarten der Natur (The magic garden of nature), in 1932. The clarity, precision, and apparent lack of mediation of his pictures, along with their presentation as analogues for essential forms in art and architecture, won him acclaim from the champions of New Vision photography. His work was a central feature of important exhibitions, including Fotografie der Gegenwart and Film und Foto, both in 1929.

—Mitra Abbaspour

Meeting Points

Cultural Hubs Berlin
Photo Industry Hubs Berlin
Exhibitions Film und Foto, 1929
Foto der Gegenwart, 1929
Publications Das deutsche Lichtbild, 1927–38
Urformen der Kunst (Blossfeldt), 1928

Artist Chronology

June 13, 1865	Born At location: Karl Blossfeldt	Harzgerode
1881–83	Apprentices in iron casting at a foundry At location: Karl Blossfeldt	Harzgerode
1890–96	Gathers and photographs plant material as part of a project for his drawing class with Moritz Meurer At location: Karl Blossfeldt	Rome
1898–1930	Teaches a course in modelling based on plants at the Institute of the Royal Arts and Crafts Museum At location: Karl Blossfeldt	Berlin
April–May 1926	Exoten, Kakteen und Janthur at Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf Participant: Karl Blossfeldt	Berlin
April 1926	First exhibition at Neumann-Nierendorf Gallery Participant: Karl Blossfeldt	Berlin
1928	Publishes Urformen der Kunst Contributor: Karl Blossfeldt	Berlin
1929	Writes the essay "Aus der Werkstatt der Natur" At location: Karl Blossfeldt	Berlin
1929	Group exhibition at the Bauhaus Participant: Karl Blossfeldt	Dessau
January 20–February 17, 1929	Fotografie der Gegenwart at Museum Folkwang Kestner Gesellschaft v.V, Königstrasse 8, Hannover March 10–April 7, 1929 Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf, Lützowstrasse 32, Berlin April 20–May 20, 1929 Whitechapel Art Gallery, London June 6–29, 1929 Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt July 7–August 8, 1929 Leipziger Kunstverein, Augustusplatz 6, Leipzig August 18–September 8, 1929 Lichthof des Neuen Rathauses, Dresden September 15–October 6, 1929 Kunstverein, Rostock October 20-November 10, 1929 am Adolf-Mittag-See, Städtisches Ausstellungsamt, Magdeburg November 28–December 19, 1929 Landesgewerbeanstalt, Kaiserslautern February 23–March 23, 1930 Vereinigung Göttinger Kunstfreunde, Göttingen May 18–June 8, 1930 Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, Lotte Jacobi, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, August Sander, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Lucia Moholy, Karl Blossfeldt, Erich Comeriner, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Frieda Gertrud Riess, Sasha Stone, Hans Finsler, Paul Edmund Hahn, Cami Stone	Essen
May 18–July 7, 1929	Internationale Ausstellung des Deutschen Werkbunds Film und Foto (FiFo) at Städtische Ausstellungshallen Kunstgewerbemuseum, Zurich August 28–September 22, 1929 Im Lichthof des Ehemaligen Kunstgewerbemuseums, Prinz-Albrechs-Strasse 7, Berlin October 19–November 17, 1929 Stadtmuseum, Danzig (dates unknown) Österreichisches Museum, Vienna February 20–March 31, 1930 Agram, Zagreb April 5–14, 1930 Münchner Bund/Verein Ausstellungspark München E.V. (as part of Internationale Ausstellung. Das Lichtbild), Munich June 5–September 7, 1930 Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo April 1931 Asahi Shimbun, Osaka July 1–7, 1931 Participant: Berenice Abbott, Herbert Bayer, Aenne Biermann, Anton Bruehl, Francis Bruguière, Max Burchartz, Florence Henri, André Kertész, Germaine Krull, Helmar Lerski, El Lissitzky, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), László Moholy-Nagy, Walter A. Peterhans, Albert Renger-Patzsch, Hans Richter, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Charles Sheeler, Edward Steichen, Maurice Tabard, Umbo (Otto Umbehr), Edward Weston, Lucia Moholy, Werner Rohde, George Hoyningen-Huene, Gustav Klutsis, Karl Blossfeldt, Heinz Loew, Erich Comeriner, Semyon Fridlyand, Roman Karmen, Eli Lotar, Oskar Nerlinger, Robert Petschow, Sasha Stone, Dziga Vertov, Yva (Else Simon), Willy Zielke, Irene Bayer-Hecht, Hans Finsler, Cami Stone Organizer: El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, Hans Richter, Edward Steichen, Edward Weston, Dziga Vertov Visitor: Alexander Hackenschmied	Stuttgart
1930	Group exhibition at the Städtisches Museum Participant: Karl Blossfeldt	Moritzburg
1932	Publishes Wundergarten der Natur Contributor: Karl Blossfeldt	Berlin
December 9, 1932	Dies At location: Karl Blossfeldt	Berlin