17 May - 28 September, 2024
Endless Forms, Most Beautiful



A new bestiary and herbarium for at risk species by artists from Northern Print.
Endless Forms, Most Beautiful was made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we were able to support visits, new printmaking and school’s programme for this project.
Northern Print artists brought together traditional printmaking and the natural world with a series of new prints highlighting the diversity of species that are categorised as ‘at risk’.
The ‘endless forms’ included marine life; plants; birds; insects and mammals with many familiar and much-loved species as well as less known and intriguing creatures that captured the imagination and hearts of Northern Print’s artists.
The exhibition of 47 new prints was made following a series of visits to our region’s natural history collections and habitats and represents the tiniest tip of the iceberg of our natural world under threat.
The artworks include a range of approaches and printmaking processes – including heritage craft skills also deemed at risk including letterpress and mould-made papers.
You can view the whole collection here.
Selected Works

Collective Loss
© Michelle Wood

The Moth Garden
© Bridget Jones

European Eel
© Britney Mado

Tīeke at Dawn
© Simon Gardiner
‘Endless Forms Most Beautiful’ is taken from the quote in ‘The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin - “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
Bestiary: A moralising medieval collection of descriptions (and often illustrations) of real and mythical animals. (Collins English Dictionary)
Herbarium: A collection of preserved plants stored, catalogued, and arranged systematically for study by professionals and amateurs from many walks of life. (Kew Royal Botanic Gardens)
Research Field Trips

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24

Great North Museum: Hancock Resource Centre. 15.02.24
Resource Links
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/ef_mb

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

https://www.nhsn.org.uk/

https://museumsnorthumberland.org.uk/berwick-museum-art-gallery

https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/saltholme
