Art Forms in Nature

By Ernst Haeckel

A reprint of the 1904 German classic. This book of images was fascinating then as now, as the multifarious morphological forms and figures unfold before us. Haeckel’s drawings influenced Art Nouveau painting and architecture.

When a jellyfish such as this … floats on the surface of the calm ocean of warmer climes, it resembles a swimming flowering plant whose leaves, tendrils, flowers and fruits look as though they were made of vivid, brightly colored, transparent crystal. The forms of the individual parts are extraordinarily delicate and often so fragile and transparent that in the seawater they can scarcely be made out, much like a breath or a fog … nature has scarcely produced anything so fragile and splendid in color as these wonderful creatures.

Prestel, 1998, softcover, 144 pages.