Art Forms in Nature：The Prints of Ernst Haeckel

Thegeometricshapesandnaturalforms,capturedwithexceptionalprecisioninErnstHaeckel'sprints,stillinfluenceartistsanddesignerstothisday.Thisvolumehighlightstheresearchandfindingsofthisnaturalscientist.PowerfulmodernmicroscopeshaveconfirmedtheaccuracyofHaeckel'sprints,whichevenintheirday,becameworldfamous.Haeckel'sportfolio,firstpublishedbetween1899and1904inseparateinstallments,isdescribedintheopeningessays.TheplatesillustrateHaeckel'sfundamentalmonisticnotionofthe"unityofalllivingthings"andthewidevarietyofformsareexecutedwithutmostdelicacy.Incipientmicroscopicorganismsarejuxtaposedwithhighlydevelopedplantsandanimals.Thepages,orderedaccordingtogeometricand"constructive"aspects,documenttheonessoftheworldinitsmostdiversifiedforms.Thiscollectionofplateswasnotonlywell-receivedbyscientists,butbyartistsandarchitectsaswell.ReneBinet,apioneerofglassandironconstructions,EmileGalle,arenownedArtNouveaudesigner,andthephotographerKarlBlossfeldallmakeexplicitreferencetoHaeckelintheirwork.