The central figure of the film is biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919). As a young man, Haeckel found himself torn between seeming irreconcilables: science and art, materialism and religion, rationality and passion, outer and inner worlds. Through his discoveries beneath the sea, Haeckel would eventually reconcile these dualities, bringing science and art together in a unitary, almost mystical vision. His work would profoundly influence not only biology but also movements, thinkers and authors as disparate as Art Nouveau and Surrealism, Sigmund Freud and D.H. Lawrence, Vladimir Lenin and Thomas Edison.
Above: Haeckle images from the Proteus filmRead a slide-show essay about Ernst Haeckel here.
You can also find many more Haeckel lithographies here. Aren't they lovely?
They are wonderful art pieces. You may enjoy this project http://www.flickr.com/photos/28196673@N08/sets/72157611177529561/ , a union of victorian xmas cards and Haeckel illustrations. It was done by one of the Crooked Timber academics (economist? philosopher? one of those)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nimble. I've posted it even though it's not Christmas.
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