Alfred Keller (sculptor)
Alfred Keller (1902–1955) was a German museum artist who created large models of insects and other small animals; these models are unique for their impressive attention to detail.
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Keller was employed at the Museum für Naturkunde (Museum of Natural History) in Berlin, Germany from 1930 until his death in 1955, and his sculptures can still be found there.[1] He worked with papier-mâché and several other materials such as celluloid and galalith to create models of insects including a flea (1930, 100:1 scale), a housefly (1932, 50:1 scale), a mosquito in flight (1937, 60:1 scale), a Colorado potato beetle (1940, 50:1 scale), and a ball bearer leafhopper (Bocydium globulare, 1953, 180:1 scale), among others. The housefly, typical of the painstaking attention to detail shown in Keller's sculptures, includes 2,653 bristles. Each model took about a year to complete.[2]
Works
- flea (1930, 100:1 scale)
- housefly (1932, 50:1 scale)
- mosquito in flight (1937, 60:1 scale)
- Wheat weevil (1940, 50:1 scale)
- Myrmica rubra with Aphid, 1944, 100:1 scale, 1947 reconstruction of a model destroyed in World War II
- ball bearer treehopper (Bocydium globulare, 1953, 180:1 scale)
References
- "Keller's Insect Models". Museum für Naturkunde. 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2019-10-30.
- Kemp, Martin (2010). "Sculpture: Terrible wonder". Nature. 468 (7323): 506–507. Bibcode:2010Natur.468..506K. doi:10.1038/468506a. ISSN 0028-0836.
External links
- German webpage including a photo of two of Keller's insect sculptures.
- Nature article about Alfred Keller (subscription required)
- Blog post containing a photograph of Keller's ball bearer leafhopper