karl blossfeldt - bishop auckland food festival · 2020-04-20 · karl blossfeldt karl blossfeldt...

Karl Blossfeldt Karl Blossfeldt (June 13, 1865 – December 9, 1932) was a German photographer, sculptor,

teacher, and artist who worked in Berlin, Germany. He is best known for his close-up photographs

of plants and living things, published in 1929 as, Urformen der Kunst. He was inspired, as was his

father, by nature and the way in which plants grow. He believed that 'the plant must be valued as

a totally artistic and architectural structure.'

Among his students at the Berlin Arts and Crafts School was Heinz Warneke. From 1924, he was

professor at the Vereinigte Staatsschulen für freie und angewandete Kunst (United State School

for Fine and Applied Art) in Berlin.

Blossfeldt made many of his photographs

with a home-made camera that could

magnify the subject up to thirty times its

size, revealing details within a plant's

natural structure. Appointed for a

teaching post at the Institute of Royal

Arts Museum in 1898 (where he

remained until 1930), he established an

archive for his photographs. Blossfeldt

never received formal training in

photography. Blossfeldt developed a

series of home-made cameras that

allowed him to photograph plant surfaces

in unprecedented magnified detail. This

reflected his enduring interest in the

repetitive patterns found in nature's

textures and forms.

In Berlin from the late nineteenth century until his death, Blossfeldt’s works

were primarily used as teaching tools and were brought to public attention in

1928 by his first publication Urformen der Kunst (Art Forms in Nature).

Published in 1928 when Blossfeldt was 63 and a professor of applied art at

the Vereinigte Staatsschulen für freie und angewandte Kunst, Urformen der

Kunst quickly became an international bestseller and in turn, made

Blossfeldt famous almost overnight. His contemporaries were impressed by

the abstract shapes and structures in nature that he revealed. Swiftly

regarded as a seminal book on photography, Blossfeldt’s factual yet finely

detailed imagery was praised by Walter Benjamin, who declared that Karl

Blossfeldt ‘has played his part in that great examination of the inventory of

perception, which will have an unforeseeable effect on our conception of the

world’.

He compared him to Maholy-Nagy and the pioneers of New

Objectivity, and ranked his achievements alongside the great

photographers August Sander and Eugene Atget. The Surrealists

also championed him, and George Bataille included his images

in the periodical Documents in 1929.

In 2001 Urformen der Kunst was included in "The Book of 101

Books" as one of the seminal photographic books of the

twentieth century.

Karl Blossfeldt Karl Blossfeldt was a German photographer, Sculptor, teacher and artist who worked in Berlin, Germany. He is best known for his close-up photographs of plants and living things, published in 1929 as, Urformen der Kunst. He was inspired, as was his father, by nature and the way in which plants grow. He believed that 'the plant must be valued as a totally artistic and architectural structure.'

Year 10 lesson objectives

TASK 1. Karl Blossfeldt I would like you to accurately draw 1 of the objects from the Karl Blossfeldt photographs provided on this Powerpoint Presentation. • Once accurately drawn out I would

like you to add tonal mark making detail to your drawing using a black biro pens.

• Remember you should use directional/textural shading/mark making to create your tonal study.

Success criteria • Complete an A4/A3 accurate drawing

that fills the page and shows analytical understanding of form/texture/shade.

Year 10 Lesson objectives

TASK 2.

Karl Blossfeldt

For todays lesson, I would like you to accurately draw out and enlarge a section of one of the objects you chose from the Karl Blossfeldt photographs (A5 in size).

• Once accuately drawn out I would like you to add tonal mark making detail to your drawing using the shading pencils.

• Remember you are to use you pencil shading/mark making to create a detailed abstract tonal study.

Success criteria

You are to continue to work on your smaller picture for homework and complete it for tomorrows lesson.

Year 10 Lesson objectives

TASK 3.

Karl Blossfeldt Research the work of Karl Blossfeldt Specifically the work he produced based on close up natural form photography. • Create an A4 collage of his work • Information about him as an artist • And a research page with your own personal comments about his work, talk about the artists use of tonal contrast, composition and mood when you discuss his work.

Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932)

Peter Randall Page

Peter Randall-Page's work is held in numerous public and private collections

throughout the world including Japan, South Korea, Australia, USA, Eire,

Germany and the Netherlands. Closer to home, a selection of his public

sculptures can be found in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and

Newbury and he is represented in the permanent collections of the Tate

Gallery and the British Museum.

His practice has always been informed and inspired by the study of organic

form and its subjective impact on our emotions and the use of incredible detail.

In 1999, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of

Plymouth and from 2002 to 2005 was an Associate Research Fellow at

Dartington College of Arts.

He was a member of the design team for the Education Resource Centre (The Core) at the Eden Project in

Cornwall, influencing the overall design of the building and incorporating an enormous granite sculpture (‘Seed’) at

its heart.

In recent years his work has become increasingly concerned with the underlying principles determining growth and

the forms it produces. In his words "geometry is the theme on which nature plays her infinite variations,

fundamental mathematical principle become a kind of pattern book from which nature constructs the most complex

and sophisticated structures."

Randall-Page was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2015 and is referred to as a Royal Academician

allowing the use of RA after his name.

Peter Randall Page

Task 4 Peter Randall Page Research the work of Peter Randall Page Specifically the work based around his prints and natural form sculptures. Create an A4 collage of his print work & Sculpture work • Information about him as an artist • And a research page with your own personal comments about his work. Talk about the artists use of tonal contrast his directional mark making and composition in his prints and his use of smooth flowing lines and forms in his sculptures.

Peter Randall Page

Peter Randall Page

Task 5. Peter Randall Page study • Peter Randall Page • For todays lesson, I would like you to

accurately draw out a picture describing the textures used in one of the works of Peter Randall Page.

• Once accurately drawn out I would like you to add tonal directional mark making detail to your drawing using either black fine liner of black biro pen.

• Remember you are to use pen shading to create flowing lines that describe the directional that the object is taking in your tonal study.

• Success criteria • You are to choose the scale you would like

to work on for this picture; Either A3/A4/A5 each size will bring with it. its own challenges.

Peter Randall Page

Public collections:

• Arnolfini Collection Trust,

Bristol

• The British Council.

• The British Embassy, Dublin

• The British Museum

• Bughley Sculpture Garden

• Castle Museum and Art

Gallery, Nottingham

• The Contemporary Art

Society, London

• The Creasy Collection of

Contemporary Art, Salisbury

• Derby Arboretum

• Leeds City Art Galleries

• Lincoln City Council

• Milton Keynes Community

NHS Trust

• The National Trust

Foundation for Art

• Nottinghamshire City

Council

• University of Nottingham

• Prior’s Court School for

Autistic Children, Thatcham

• University of Tasmania

• Tate Collection; 'Where the

Bee Sucks'(1991)

• Ulster Museum, Belfast

• Usher Gallery, Lincolnshire

County Council

• University of Warwick,

Coventry

• West Kent College,

Tonbridge

• The Eden Centre, Cornwall

Peter Randall-Page

Jo Sheppard

Jo Sheppard Task 6 Using one of the Jo Sheppard images provided either: (Full image of small abstract section) create a detailed colour study in the media of your choice. Your picture must fill either A4 or A3 paper. Note if your are using acrylic paint or oil pastels this would look good on Cardboard (that you can strip back from any cardboard box). If you are using colour pencils or watercolour paints then you may want to use either parcel paper or the inside of an opened up brown envelope? Alternatively you could use white cartridge paper from your sketchbooks. Task 7 Produce an accompanying tonal(black and White) study of a different piece of shell work by Jo Sheppard Your own choice of media, materials and scale.

Task 8 Jo Sheppard Research the work of Jo Sheppard Specifically the work she produced based on natural form shells. • Create an A4 collage of her work • Information about her as an artist • And a research page with your own personal comments about her work, talk about the artists use of colour, composition, texture and mood when you discuss her work.

Your own work

Task 9 Composition 1 (Single or mixed media)+3 (20 Mins) preliminary drawings of shells used Tonal study at least A4 in size that explores the media or media’s you have used successfully during this investigation. This should be a composite image made up of at least 3 different shells form different photographs that over-layer one another. Task 10 Composition 2 (Single or mixed media) )+3 (20 Mins) preliminary drawings as above Colour study at least A4 in size that explores the media or media’s you have used successfully during this investigation. This should also be a composite image and made up of either collaged images or made up of at least 3 different shells studies from different photographs that over-layer one another. Task 11 Composition 3 (Single or mixed media) )+3 (20 Mins) preliminary drawings as above A close up abstract composition that has been taken from either Composition 1 or 2. This 3rd composition must be A3 is size and should be either a tonal or colour study again in a chosen media of your choice and must be highly detailed and explore media successfully.

Using the following set of photographs and the work you have produced based on the artists for inspiration as a starting point, create 3 of your own compositions in different media.

Shell Photo 1

Shell Photo 2

Year 10 Lesson Objectives

Before we broke up we started to investigate the contours of natural form such as skulls and shells. You have already produced a detailed study of a skull at school. Because you will not be able to access animal skulls from home you will need to use the internet to collect photographs of either goat, sheep, or bird skulls and shells to study further ideally 1 of each. Task 12 linking with the work already produced in school. Produce a series of drawings and painting of the photographs you have collected from the internet. These studies could be produced in Shading pencils, colour pencils, watercolour paints and might be nice to be done over the top of partial collaged brown paper like in your skull study started in school. At least 3 studies are needed for this task.

Pupils Natural form project check list

Task Title Not Met

On/ going

Met Complete

Task 1 Blossfeldt 1Biro

Task 2 Blossfeldt enlarged A5 section

Task 3 Blossfeldt research

Task 4 Randall Page research

Task 5 Randall Page Biro or fine liner

Task 6 Jo Sheppard detail (A3/A4/A5) underline

Task 7 Tonal Jo Sheppard

Task 8 Jo Sheppard research

Task 9 Own work Composition 1



Task 12 Skull studies

Widening your knowledge- Lots of artist throughout history and even in modern times have been inspired by natural form as a stimulus for their work. The artists included in this powerpoint only scratch the surface of what artists have explored throughout history. Others’ work that you may find interesting are;

• Amiria Robinson Gale,

• Georgia O’keeffe,

• Ernst Haeckel

The internet is an amazing resource at your finger tips, use this time to broaden your knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of what has fascinated artists throughout time the beauty found within nature.

Year 10’s Other artists to consider?

Amiria Robinson Gale Georgia O’Keeffe Ernst Haeckel

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&url=https://catapult.co/stories/ernst-haeckel-the-eugenicist-who-designed-my-tattoos&psig=AOvVaw16bnYKVyQ413G5FVy8xb-8&ust=1585848689218000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAIQjRxqFwoTCIjM0OTgx-gCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAF

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj8xPy3_dTaAhVFthQKHbjMANsQjRx6BAgAEAU&url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/52.203/&psig=AOvVaw1-Ng7Yi0xVyOUs1XU76pcd&ust=1524730288122325