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Karl Blossfeldt

By Allison Kannam

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Vital Statistics

• June 13,1865- December 9, 1932

• Born and lived in Germany

• He was a photographer, a sculptor, and a teacher in Berlin, Germany.

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Key Personal Events

• He studied at Mägdesprung as a sculptor and studied ironworks and foundry from 1882-1884.

• He traveled to Italy, Greece, and North Africa with Professor M. Muerer between 1890-1896. Muerer had a theory that natural forms were reproduced within art. Blossfeldt got funds from the government and took plant photographs to use for his teaching.

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Key Personal Events (cont.)

• Taught design at the School of Decorative Arts in Berlin, starting in 1899. He arranged the plants against bare backgrounds and magnified them to teach drawing to his students.

• In 1928, a book of his photographs was published, called Urformen der Kunst. It was an international bestseller. This made Blossfeldt much more popular and exposed his artwork to the Western World

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Key Historical Events

• When he was shooting his photos, the style was soft focused and impressionistic

• His work was the beginning of a German post-World War I movement to let go of the old styles in place of artwork with direct lighting and sharper focus

• His photographs were part of the forthcoming “New Objectivity” movement of art, called Neue Sachlichkeit

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Stylistic Traits

• Black and white

• Solid background

• Photos are of plant life

• Close-up/Zoom

• Patterns/Geometry

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Adiantum pedatum(Maidenhair-fern)

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Delphinium (Larkspur) Abutilon (Lime Mallow)

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Saxifraga Aizoon (Saxifrage) Saxifraga Willkommniana (Willkomm’s Saxifrage)