Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science, and the Visual Arts (Yale Center for British Art) (Icons of the Luso-Hispanic World) - Hardcover

Diana Donald; Jane Munro

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300148267 ISBN 13: 9780300148268

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Charles Darwin has had a profound influence on the fields of biology and natural history. But his ideas also imbued the work of many nineteenth-century artists. The slow process of evolution by 'natural selection', the dynamic interplay of life forms, the 'struggle for existence' all greatly stimulated the imaginations of artists of his era. This lavishly illustrated book is the first to explore Darwin's impact on the visual arts in Europe and America during the second half of the nineteenth century. Exceptionally broad ranging, the book brings together art and science in a new way. It shows the visual influences on Darwin through his life, especially on the Beagle voyage, as well as the creative effects of his theories. The book demonstrates that in artists as diverse as Church, Landseer, Liljefors, Heade, Redon, Cezanne and Monet, in new forms of landscape painting and dioramas, imaginary scenes of prehistory, and depictions of animals, Darwin's sense of the interplay of all living things and his response to the beauties of colour and form in nature proved inspirational.

About this title

Review:

"...demonstrates that art is an important agency through which Darwin's influence has been felt and his ideas can be expressed."

About the Author:

Diana Donald is the former Head of the Department of History of Art and Design at Manchester Metropolitan University. Jane Munro is Senior Assistant Keeper of Paintings, Drawings, and Prints at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0300148267
• ISBN 13: 9780300148268
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288