Urformen der Kunst

Berlin: Ernst Wasmuth A.G., 1929. Second edition. Hardcover. Very good+ to fine condition. Folio. XVII (I) Text, (1) 120 leaves (Plates). Original gilt-stamped green cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine and front cover. Publisher's device on title page.

Second edition of the most famous work by German botanist and photographer, Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932). "His entire photographic output is devoted to plant parts: twig ends, seed pods, tendrils, leaf buds etc. These he meticulously arranged against stark backgrounds and photographed in magnification, so that unfamiliar shapes from the vegetal worlds are revealed as startling, elegant (truncated) architectural forms. Since the first publication of his photographs in the late twenties (1928) his work is considered to be one of the aesthetic highlights of photo history."

Originally published in 1928 when Blossfeldt was sixty-three and a professor of applied art at the Berliner Kunsthochschule, "Urformen der Kunst" quickly became an international bestseller and in turn made Blossfeldt famous almost overnight. His contemporaries were enchanted by the abstract shapes and structures in nature that he revealed to the world. In 2001 "Urformen der Kunst" was included in "The Book of 101 Books" as one of the seminal photographic books of the 20th Century. Illustrated with 120 b/w reproductions in photogravure. Each image is approx. 10 1/4 x 7 1/2" on a 12 1/4 x 9 1/2" sheet.

Text in German. Binding with very light wear along edges with gilt lettering on spine lightly faded. Ex-Libris of A. Reder on inside front cover. Slight age-toning along paper margin, not affecting images. Binding in overall very good, interior in near fine, images in fine condition. (Inventory #: 49072)