Goethe's Theory of Colours: Translated from the German, with Notes

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Charles Lock Eastlake (Translator)

Overview

This work by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was translated into English in 1840 by Sir Charles Eastlake (1793–1865), painter and later keeper of the National Gallery. Goethe's 1810 work was rejected by many contemporary scientists because it appeared to contradict the physical laws laid down by Newton. However, its focus on the human perception of the colour spectrum, as opposed to the observable optical phenomenon, was attractive to, and influential upon, artists and philosophers. As Eastlake says in his preface, the work's dismissal on scientific grounds had caused 'a well-arranged mass of observations and experiments, many of which are important and interesting', to be overlooked. Eastlake also puts Goethe's work into its aesthetic and scientific context and describes its original reception. His clear translation of Goethe's observations and experiments on colour and light will appeal to anyone interested in our responses to art.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108075442
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/02/2014
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Art and Architecture
Edition description:	Translatio
Pages:	482
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.06(d)

Table of Contents

Translator's preface; Preface to the first edition of 1810; Introduction; 1. Physiological colours; 2. Physical colours; 3. Chemical colours; 4. General characteristics; 5. Relation to other pursuits; 6. Effect of colour with reference to moral associations; Concluding observations; Notes.