1920s botanic autochrome by Dutch photographer Leendert Blok

Blok, Leendert, Other, Netherlands, 1920s

Dutch photographer Leendert Blok has been experimenting with colour photography and the use of the panoramic format, since the 1920s. Blok comes as close as possible to texture and develops a singular approach in which each flower becomes sculpture.

He portrays tulips, narcissus, dahlias, hyacinths, irises, and gladioluses. Beyond a documentary approach, Blok captures flowers like objects of desire through a minimal staging, a subtle play of light revealing the autochrome colourful shades. The flowers stand out against a plain dark background, alluding to the famous vanitas of the Dutch Golden Age.

  • 6209
  • Price on request

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