Blumenbachia hieronymi

1915–25
Not on view
Professor Karl Blossfeldt began his exploration of forms in nature in 1890, but his images were little known before their publication in Urformen der Kunst (Art Forms in Nature) in 1928. The renegade Surrealist writer Georges Bataille was fascinated by the hallucinatory clarity and sinister sexuality of Blossfeldt's plant forms and used several of the photographs to illustrate his essay on the enigmatic "language of flowers" in the first issue of his review Documents in June 1929.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Blumenbachia hieronymi
  • Artist: Karl Blossfeldt (German, 1865–1932)
  • Date: 1915–25
  • Medium: Gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions: Image: 29.8 x 23.8 cm (11 3/4 x 9 3/8 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Purchase, Denise and Andrew Saul Gift, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.100.299
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.