Endless Forms Charles Darwin, Natural Science, and the Visual Arts Diana Donald, Jane Munro

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.

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.

'… far more than a commemorative exercise, for it succeeds in placing a familiar figure in an entirely new perspective, revealing the surprising extent to which Darwinian ideas, in changing our ways of understanding the world, have changed our ways of seeing it.'
-Times Literary Supplement

‘For those not lucky enough to have visited the exhibition during its display this book is a worthy substitute. The art world has widened its focus to acknowledge the strong links between science and art. The content of this book is a constructive contribution to it.’
-Rosalind Ormiston, The Art Book

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