Accession Number
2014/2.9

Title
Adiantum pedatum

Artist(s)
Karl Blossfeldt

Artist Nationality
German (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
1928

Medium & Support
rotogravure on paper

Dimensions
9 5/16 in x 12 1/8 in (23.65 cm x 30.8 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Eeta Gershow

Subject matter
Displayed as a diptych, these photographs show close-up views of a grouping of young ferns.  The delicate plants rise upwards against a flat, white background, their sinuous stems curling into intricate spirals at their tops. The group on the right consists of three ferns, their stems bristling with spikey leaves. The pair on the left cross one another, and then meet again near their tops, their two heads nuzzling against one another. The positioning and dynamism of the plants’ organic forms lends them an uncannily expressive quality, animal-like and graceful. With a handmade camera of his own devising, Blossfeldt was able to enlarge this view of them twelve times over, creating a sharp and richly detailed image. Printed in matte, green-black tones, this image originally appeared in the books, Urformen der Kunst  (1928) and Art Forms in Nature (1929), and accompanied other closeup views of botanical specimens. 

Physical Description
Presented as a diptych, this plate presents two closeup views of a grouping of young ferns positioned against a light background.  

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Additional Object Classification(s)
Print

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Pteridophyta (division)
botany
diptychs
flowers (plant components)
groupings of plants
natural history specimens
plant material
scientific illustrations (images)
specimens