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Happy birthday to writer, statesman and polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). Made for the #printersolstice Fauvism prompt: This print is a hand-printed, limited edition, reduction block print portrait. While best known for his contributions to German literature, he pursued natural sciences, studying morphology,
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doing work which presaged evolution, discovering the human intermaxillary bone, performing Galvanic experiments, studying anatomy with Alexander von Humboldt, formulating a theory of plant metamorphosis, gathering the largest private collection of minerals in Europe, & popularizing a barometer he built based on Torricelli’s principle.
What he considered his most important work was Theory of Colours (Farbenlehre, 1810). Goethe rejected Newton’s description of colour & analytic approach. 2/n
He wanted to portray rather than explain colour. He was a careful observer and claimed, “The human being himself, to the extent that he makes sound use of his senses, is the most exact physical apparatus that can exist.” He felt colour came from the interplay of light and dark through a turbid medium (like air, dust and moisture). He included aesthetic qualities such as the allegorical, symbolic, and mystic use of colour.
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His physics were not sound but he was the first to probe human colour perception and his insights inspired the art world (especially J. M. W. Turner) and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein to write ‘Remarks on Colour’.
My portrait is based on contemporary portraits, particularly a painting of Goethe in 1828 by Joseph Karl Stieler.
4/4 https://www.etsy.com/listing/1162543096/goethes-theory-of-colours-fauve-style