Vase

Designer: Hugo C.M. Elmquist

c. 1908

Bronze

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A bronze vase is decorated with embossed grape leaves and vines, and a beetle climbing the side. The vase has a reddish-brown and green patina. The impact of Charles Darwin's <I>Theory of Evolution</I> on the decorative arts at the turn of the century has yet to be fully researched and examined. It was to have a tremendous influence on a wide variety of artists throughout Europe. One such example is this bronze vase by Hugo Elmquist on which a beetle and trailing vine are faithfully rendered life-size in applied relief. In the 19th century, the ramifications of morphology and the history of organic evolution were a sphere which involved the artist through the medium of scientific illustrations. Darwin's controversial theories reawakened a new-found appreciation for the infi