untitled

inflorescence of a withered sunflower

gelatin silver print

artist stamp on verso

The year he took the photograph of the withered sunflower also saw the publication of his groundbreaking photo book Urformen der Kunst (The World is Beautiful), the work that established him as a leading representative of New Objectivity. “Who looks at a flower from such close up as Renger-Patzsch does? The botanist. Being related to a botanist certainly makes the work easier. The photographer, too, extracts the characteristic element from the multitude of appearances, emphasizes the essential, and omits what tempts the eye to wander into the multifaceted. He keeps the viewer’s gaze firmly fixed on the wondrous beauties of organic growth. He brings to life what the scientist can only describe."¹
Since the 17^th century, the wilting flower – and above all the sunflower (Helianthus annuus) – has been regarded in Baroque painting as a central vanitas symbol of the transience of all earthly things. Renger-Patzsch breaks radically with this tradition: His close-ups of wilted plants are explicitly not symbols of decay or melancholy. Instead, he isolates natural forms to reveal their mathematical geometry, fascinating texture, and architectural structure.
That same year also saw the publication of Karl Blossfeldt’s photo book *Urformen der Kunst* (Primordial Forms of Art)². Like Blossfeldt, who strictly isolated and typologized plant structures, Renger-Patzsch also approaches plants as functional architectural forms of nature. However, while Blossfeldt isolates plants as if they were sculptural, almost architectural patterns of arts and crafts, Renger-Patzsch emphasizes the independent photographic aesthetics of the surfaces and details.
(Christoph Fuchs, translated with DeepL)

Note

1
Carl Georg Heise (ed.), Albert Renger-Patzsch. Die Welt ist schön. 100 Fotografien, Munich 1928, S. 7, https://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/264768/11 (30.7.2026)

2
Karl Nierendorf (ed.), Karl Blossfeldt. Urformen der Kunst. Photographische Pflanzenbilder, Berlin 1928.