Karl Blossfeldt - Urformen der Kunst, Ernst Wasmuth A.G., 1928, Berlin
Hardcover cloth bound with dust jacket.
Urformen der Kunst ("Archetypal Forms of Art") is one of the most striking books in photographic history, as well as one of the most popular, running into numerous editions over the decades. It was a key model for the 'typologies' school of contemporary German photography, but Blossfeldt's photo-book masterpiece was not a conceptual work of art. It was, like so much German photography of this period, pedagogical in nature, as much founded on the arts-and-crafts ethos as Bauhaus principles. ... In 1925 his work caught the attention of Karl Nierendorf, a banker and collector of avantgarde art. Nierendorf encouraged Blossfeldt to exhibit his photographs in art exhibitions, and edited the work for this publication, as well as writing the introduction, Nierendorf undoubtedly had a significant influence in ensuring that the book was constructed with formal rigour and philosophical consistency that move it far beyond the scientific record. ... The semi-abstract nature of Blossfeldt's work ensures its modernist credentials, although in reality his inspiration is much more rooted in the nineteenth-century German tradition of natural philosophy. Nevertheless, however one chooses to label these images, their popularity has remained constant, ever since the book's first edition. (from Parr/Badger - The Photobook: A History Volume I)
Pages: 140
Place: Berlin
Year: 1928
Publisher: Ernst Wasmuth A.G.
Size: 26 x 32 cm (approx.)
Urformen der Kunst ("Archetypal Forms of Art") is one of the most striking books in photographic history, as well as one of the most popular, running into numerous editions over the decades. It was a key model for the 'typologies' school of contemporary German photography, but Blossfeldt's photo-book masterpiece was not a conceptual work of art. It was, like so much German photography of this period, pedagogical in nature, as much founded on the arts-and-crafts ethos as Bauhaus principles. ... In 1925 his work caught the attention of Karl Nierendorf, a banker and collector of avantgarde art. Nierendorf encouraged Blossfeldt to exhibit his photographs in art exhibitions, and edited the work for this publication, as well as writing the introduction, Nierendorf undoubtedly had a significant influence in ensuring that the book was constructed with formal rigour and philosophical consistency that move it far beyond the scientific record. ... The semi-abstract nature of Blossfeldt's work ensures its modernist credentials, although in reality his inspiration is much more rooted in the nineteenth-century German tradition of natural philosophy. Nevertheless, however one chooses to label these images, their popularity has remained constant, ever since the book's first edition. (from Parr/Badger - The Photobook: A History Volume I)
Pages: 140
Place: Berlin
Year: 1928
Publisher: Ernst Wasmuth A.G.
Size: 26 x 32 cm (approx.)
