Orchids (Orchidae)

Ernst Haeckel, artist

1834–1919

Orchids (Orchidae), 1904

Portfolio/Series title: Kunstformen der Natur (Art forms in Nature)

Where object was made: Germany

Material/technique: chromolithograph; lithograph

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): a 285 x 204 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 11 1/4 x 8 1/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): a 348 x 260 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 13 11/16 x 10 1/4 in
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): b 280 x 200 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 11 x 7 7/8 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): b 361 x 274 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 3/16 x 10 13/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: Anonymous gift

Accession number: 2017.0055.01.a,b

Not on display

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Brosseau Center for Learning: Principles of Organismal Biology Fall 2019

Scientist and accomplished artist, Ernst Haeckel, was one of Charles Darwin’s most outspoken supporters. Haeckel rendered natural forms in a high-key, even hallucinatory mode that exaggerated symmetry and the underlying geometrical structure of plant forms. The chromolithographs illustrating his Art forms in Nature have influenced generations of artists. Haeckel coined the appealing but false tenet that states, “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.” This notion expresses the idea that the cellular development of an organism summarizes the organism’s evolution. He was also too quick to suggest, through his artwork, the perfectibility of biological organisms, which has implicated him as an early formulator of eugenics.

There are only three plates in Kunstformen der Natur that deal specifically with plant forms, with much of the volume illustrating invertebrates such as jellyfish, starfish, and microscopic protists that display morphological principles to an especially compelling effect.

Big Botany: Conversations with the Plant World

Scientist and artist Ernst Haeckel was one of Charles Darwin’s most outspoken supporters. Haeckel rendered natural forms in a style that exaggerated symmetry and the underlying geometrical structure of plant forms. The chromolithographs illustrating his Kunstformen der Natur (Art forms in Nature) have influenced generations of artists. Haeckel coined the appealing but false tenet that states “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny,” or the idea that the cellular development of an organism summarizes the organism’s evolution. Through his artwork, he suggested the perfectibility of biological organisms, which has implicated him as an early formulator of eugenics.

These are the only three plates in Kunstformen der Natur that deal specifically with plant forms, with much of the volume illustrating invertebrates. The 100 plates of Kunstformen der Natur had a major impact on the decorative arts as well as the later years of the Art Nouveau movement.