After Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) German, Botanical Shield Fern Graphite on Paper. Carefully copied and reproduced in excellent detail. Unsigned and framed. 

Condition: Great. 

Overall Size: 17 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. 

Sight Size: 7 x 7 in. 

Karl Blossfeldt was born on June 13th, 1865 in Schielo, near the Harz Mountains (present-day Germany). In 1881 he began an apprenticeship training as an iron caster at the Art Ironworks and Foundry in Mägdesprung Germany, quickly drawn to sculpting. After spending three years as an apprentice, Blossfeldt transitioned to studying illustration at Kunstgewerbemuseum’s education department in Berlin. During this time, Blossfeldt received a scholarship to study under Moritz Meurer, a decorative artist and professor of ornament and design. In 1890 he began traveling with several other assistants around Europe and North Africa photographing botanical specimens for Meurer to use as reference photos for his artwork. Blossfeldt continued working for Moritz Meurer until 1896, when his interest in photography led him to begin pursuing his own inspiration and techniques. In 1898 he began teaching photography at the Institute of Royal Arts Museum, and wound up designing a photography and drawing program which he ran for over thirty years. He kept a detailed log of the common and scientific names of every specimen that he photographed, and eventually produced roughly 6,000 photographs. In 1925 art gallerist Karl Neirendorf discovered and began to represent him, and his career was just beginning to take off when he died in Berlin on December 9th, 1932. Today his botanical photographs are routinely reproduced and collected for their stark clarity and quality, both in the art world and by botanists, and he is regarded as a pioneer of close-up photography, responsible for several innovations which would eventually lead to higher quality photography processes in the future.

Great.