Art Forms in Nature: Prints of Ernst Haeckel

I was not disappointed. A delightful book. I picked this for my son's 11th birthday. He's really into nature, sci-fi and fantasy video games/books and drawing, so I thought it'd be helpful inspiration for the latter. The introductory section is detailed and well-written (for an older audience than my son, of course) but Haeckel's images speak clearly without the need for explanation. The meticulous detail of the plates is astounding. Each page features a symmetrical arrangement of etchings of related species of various classes of organism. Expect to see pages devoted to seaweeds, seaslugs, jellyfish, crustaceans, bats, fish and reptiles for example. And while these are conceptually familiar, in Haeckel's rendering they are bizarre and other-worldly. The spatial arrangement of organisms enhances the feeling of design, which is evocative of Art Nouveau style or some William Morris wallpapers. There's a mix of monochromatic and exquisite colour images and the book itself is substantial. I can't imagine anyone not being awed and fascinated by this collection of engravings. It could change the way you look at the natural world and is surely great inspiration for artists and designers. My son loved it.

If you're so interested in this book that you've made it to the reviews then just buy it. It's a fascinating collection of illustrations that are beautiful to behold. The man was an artist without compare.

Great book

Beautiful!!! Amazing drawings of exceptional detail, every time I look through it I see something I din't the time before. Some people have bought it to give them inspiration in their drawings, which I'm sure it does, I bought it to see if it would give me inspiration to do some unusual woodworking pieces, it does that too. Even if you're not an artist in any kind of medium be it pencil, paint, wood, clay or crayon, this is a book worth looking at and going 'ooooh' over.

I ran into some of Haekel's work on Pinterest originally, and didn't realise it was available in print. This particular edition is a nice large format book and while the colours may be slightly muted on the matte paper, the plates are still gorgeous to look at and quite clear enough for reference, which is why I bought it.

Beautiful illustrations... So so happy I got it. Its hard to discribe and sell it to you... Just great for references.

I know my title sounds like a statement of the obvious, but Haeckel does a very interesting job of showing the design qualities found in nature. These are very accomplished artistic illustrations of flora and fauna, the kind of thing that could make you reconsider the beauty of a simple spider's web, things we mostly take for granted. Recommended. With nice quality prints.

Bought as a gift for an artist who done me a favour. Came arrived in cellophane and the cover was beautiful I couldn't resist opening it, and have decided to buy my own copy. The line drawing illustrations are really beautiful and a great source of inspiration for Lino printing. etching etc. I had just bought this 'on spec', it is a real find and a very reasonable cost given the quality of the paper and printing!