polity united kingdom victorianconcept:era modern
Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory)
Oil on canvas (1843) by J.M.W. Turner. A swirling vortex of golden light depicting Moses writing the Book of Genesis, inscribed with a reference to Goethe's color theory. One of Turner's most abstract and visionary late works. Held at Tate Britain, London.
Scholarly Significance
Turner's response to Goethe's color theory; among his most abstract works and a statement on the nature of light and creation.
Notes
- ·Full title: 'Light and Colour (Goethe's Theory) — the Morning after the Deluge — Moses Writing the Book of Genesis.'
- ·Exhibited as a pair with 'Shade and Darkness — the Evening of the Deluge' (also 1843, Tate) to illustrate warm (yellow) versus cool (blue) color contrasts from Goethe's Zur Farbenlehre (1810).
- ·Turner had annotated Eastlake's English translation of Goethe's color theory.
- ·The circular composition and near-total dissolution of forms pushes far beyond narrative painting.
- ·Inscribed with lines from Turner's own unpublished poem 'Fallacies of Hope'.
- ·Turner Bequest, 1856.