Structures of Nature: Photographs by Andreas Feininger Sea Creatures, Spirals, and Symmetry Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature August 21 to November 24, 2002 Micro and Macro Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center August 21 to December 8, 2002 Plants and Patterns Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature December 7, 2002, to May 18, 2003 The University of Richmond Museums is pleased to announce a three-part presentation of more than ninety black-and-white and color photographs by photographer Andreas Feininger (American, 1906-1999). All of the photographs in the exhibition are from a recent gift from the Feininger family and the Bonni Benrubi Gallery in New York and are part of the permanent collection of the Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums. Structures of Nature is the first major exhibition of photographer Andreas Feininger's nature studies in more than 25 years. Born in Paris and raised in Germany, Feininger was influenced by the Bauhaus, where his father, artist Lyonel Feininger, taught prior to World War II. By the 1920s, the younger Feininger had already established several stylistic traits in his photographic work, such as monumentalized subject matter and emphasis on line. His nature photographs tend to reveal patterns in animal and plant forms as found in the backbones of a snake or veins in a leaf.
After immigrating to America in 1939, Feininger completed almost 350 photographic essays for Life magazine between 1943 and 1962. Several series focused on nature studies, such as "Insect Engineers" (Life, 29 August 1949) and "Bones" (Life, 6 October 1952). In addition to his magazine work, Feininger published numerous books on photographic theory and technique as well as picture books including The Anatomy of Nature (1965), Shells: Forms and Designs of the Sea (1972), and Nature in Miniature (1989). His photographs have been included in several exhibitions including the Museum of Modern Art's The Family of Man (1955) and a traveling retrospective organized by the International Center of Photography in New York (1976). In 1957 the American Museum of Natural History presented a traveling exhibition of his nature themed works titled Anatomy of Nature. Major collections of Feininger's nature photographs are housed at the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona, the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York, and the Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center, University of Richmond Museums. Presented in three parts, Structures of Nature will focus on works that fall under the following themes: Sea Creatures, Spirals, and Symmetry (August 21 to November 24, 2002, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature): This exhibition explores a major subject in Feininger's oeuvre - shells and other sea creatures - along with images that reveal varieties of spirals and symmetry in forms of nature. Micro and Macro (August 21 to December 8, 2002, Joel and Lila Harnett Print Study Center): This installment groups photographs based on formal qualities that appear through Feininger's selective perspective. For example, a series of photographs of what look like feathers, upon closer inspection, reveal themselves as images of an insect wing, ice cubes, dendrites, and real feathers. Plants and Patterns (December 7, 2002 to May 18, 2003, Lora Robins Gallery of Design from Nature): This final installation highlights another important subject of Feininger's - trees and leaves - for which he published two volumes by the same titles. This selection of photographs includes images that demonstrate pattern and symmetry in other natural things, such as snake skin, fungus, and sand dunes. Structures of Nature is curated by N. Elizabeth Schlatter, Assistant Director, University of Richmond Museums. Ms. Schlatter wrote the biographical essay on Feininger for the American National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2000). The accompanying exhibition catalogue, published by University of Richmond Museums, includes an essay by Ms. Schlatter; a Foreword by Richard Waller, Executive Director, University of Richmond Museums; and a preface by Eugene G. Maurakis, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Continuing Studies, University of Richmond, and Museum Scientist and Director of Life Sciences, Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond. The exhibition is made possible in part with the generous support of the University's Cultural Affairs Committee and a planning grant from the Museum Loan Network. Funded and initiated by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, the MLN is administered by MIT's Office of the Arts. The exhibition catalogue, Structures of Nature: Photographs by Andreas Feininger is available for purchase, please follow the link for purchasing information