University of Notre Dame
Universtiy of Notre Dame

Marble: Museums, Archives, Rare Books and Libraries Exploration

Home Browse Featured My Portfolios About
  1. Home ›
  2. Asclepias syriaca ›

Asclepias syriaca (Cornuti): Silkweed Flower Enlarged Eighteen Times from Urformen der Kunst: Photographische Pflanzenbilder

Date

1928

Creator

Karl Blossfeldt
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art

This image shows Blossfeldt's enlargement of one flower or the plant known to Americans as milkweed or silkweed, the favorite of monarch butterflies. Scores of these flowers bloom in spherical clusters a few inches (about 8 cm) in diameter. To examine closer one of the tiny flowers, half an inch (1.3 cm) tall, presents an unfamiliar perspective. The two tiers of petals often occur in different bright colors, to attract pollinators; however, Blossfeldt's black-and-white image forces us to concentrate on the plastic form fo this miniature sculpture. The flower is suspended on a slender, hairy stalk. Illuminated in this way, the crownlike form of the upper tier of petals, actually enlarged anthers of the stamen, appears architectural. The corolla, the lower tier of suspended petals that appear thick and fuzzy on one side, looks like thick sueded leather.

from Acton, A History of Photography at the University of Notre Dame: Twentieth Century (Notre Dame, 2019)

Images

This is called Asclepias syriaca (Cornuti): Silkweed Flower Enlarged Eighteen Times from Urformen der Kunst: Photographische Pflanzenbilder within the category of Photographs.Open in external viewer application
This is called Asclepias syriaca (Cornuti): Silkweed Flower Enlarged Eighteen Times from Urformen der Kunst: Photographische Pflanzenbilder within the category of Photographs.
This is called Asclepias syriaca (Cornuti): Silkweed Flower Enlarged Eighteen Times from Urformen der Kunst: Photographische Pflanzenbilder within the category of Photographs.

Metadata

Creator
Karl Blossfeldt (German, 1865 - 1932)
Date
1928
Classification
Photographs
Medium
Photogravure
Dimensions
12 3/8 x 9 5/8 in. (31.3 x 24.6 cm)
Credit Line
Dr. and Mrs. Charles Sawyer Fund
Copyright Status
Public domain
Subject
buds
flowers
photogravure
stalk

Metadata

Accession Number
1997.033.002
Campus Location
Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
Access

Not on view, please request access

Metadata

Contact Us

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Raclin Murphy Museum of Art at RMMACollections@nd.edu.


Related Items

No results found for .
Raclin Murphy Art Museum
100 Raclin Murphy Museum of Art
Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA
Phone (574) 631–5466
RMMACollections@nd.edu
Hesburgh Library
284 Hesburgh Library
Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA
Phone (574) 631-6258
asklib@nd.edu
© 2025 University of Notre Dame
Marble: Museums, Archives, Rare Books and Libraries Exploration
AboutPortfoliosHelpAccessibilitySite Map