Karl Blossfeldt: Working Collages

Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) achieved overnight fame in the late 1920s with the first publication of his photographs of plants. Those photographs, which revealed the inner structures of the organic forms, immediately made him a pioneer of New Objectivity — an innovative movement in art and photography of the 1920s and 1930s. Blossfeldt, however, was neither a trained photographer nor a botanist. He was a sculptor and art professor who did his photographic work to generate teaching material for his students.The publication of this book is the result of an extraordinary event — the 1997 discovery in Blossfeldt's estate of sixty-one previously unknown collages, in virtually mint condition, of photographic contact prints arranged on large cardboard sheets.

Blossfeldt apparently used these to study the relation and similarity of the photographs and to compare them graphically and aesthetically. On some, Blossfeldt had made marks or handwritten notations. Others show lines for cropping. The collages, published here for the first time, unveil a hidden treasure of modern photography and cast fresh light on the systematic approach Blossfeldt used in his photographic studies. All collages are reproduced in four colors.Introducing the book is an essay by Swiss art historian Ulrike Meyer-Stump, a contributing curator to the exhibitions at the Kunsthaus in Zurich.Not for sale in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Austria

Newly discovered photographic collages by early-twentieth-century photographer Karl Blossfeldt.

Library Journal

German sculptor and professor Blossfeldt (1865-1932) is best known for his close-up photography of plants and for his association with the New Objectivity movement in German photography. This book, edited by the curators of the Karl Blossfeldt Archive in Z lpich, Germany, mostly comprises his 61 previously unpublished collages of contact prints, with little text. These large, high-quality color reproductions effectively reveal the aesthetic value of the prints as the artist arranged them, side by side on large cardboard sheets. In an introductory essay, Swiss art historian Ulrike Meyer Stump discusses the purpose of Blossfeldt's contact prints, which he suggests was to aid the photographer in studying the forms of plants. Offering a view into an important photographer's methods, this is a recommended addition to museum and art school libraries; Hans Christian Adam's Karl Blossfeldt (LJ 7/99), however, is the best overview of Blossfeldt's work for general academic and larger public library collections. Eric Linderman, East Cleveland P.L., OH Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Ann Wilde is curator of the Karl Blossfeldt Archive.

Jurgen Wilde is curator of the Karl Blossfeldt Archive.