Karl Blossfeldt

File:Blossfeldt 55a.jpg

Haarfarn (Maidenhair fern) from "Urformen der Kunst"(The original art)

Karl Blossfeldt (1865 – 1932) was a German photographer, sculptor, teacher and artist who worked in Berlin, Germany. He is famous for his close up photographs of plants.

Biography

Karl Blossfeldt was born on June 6, 1865 in Schielo, Unterharz, Germany.

He worked as an apprentice in artistic forms of iron casting at the iron foundry in Mägdesprung between 1881 and 1883; and studied art at the Institute of Royal Arts and Crafts Museum (later named College of Fine Arts, or Hochschule für Bildende Künste) in Berlin between 1884 and 1890.

In 1890-1896 he participated in a project in Italy, run by Moritz Meurer, collecting plant material for drawing classes. During this period Blossfeldt started systematically documenting plant samples photographically. Some of his photographs appear in Meurer’s publications at the turn of the century.

In 1898 he married Maria Plank. The marriage ended with a divorce in 1910.

He started teaching at the Institute of Royal Arts and Crafts Museum in Berlin in 1898, and continued working there as a professor from 1921 until 1930.

In 1912 he married opera singer Helene Wegener.

His first exhibition was held in 1926 at the Nierendorf Gallery in Berlin; and published the book Urformen der Kunst in 1928, which was highly appriciated by both critics and public.

On December 9, 1932 he died in Berlin.

His projects were plants and living things

Gallery

• Canadian burnet - Sanguisorba sp.(left), Swallowwort (right)
  Canadian burnet - Sanguisorba sp.(left), Swallowwort (right)
• 
  Monkshood
• 
  Garlic plant
• 
  Phacelia tanacetifolia

He was inspired in his art with nature and the way in which plants grew.

External links

• Website Karl-Blossfeldt-Archiv (parts of this page are in English)
• The Complete Portfolio
• Blossfeldt's Urformen der Kunst
• Masters of Photography article