Zur Farbenlehre translated

Charles Lock Eastlake’s translation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Zur Farbenlehre was published in 1840. Goethe’s 1810 anti-Newtonian treatise examines how color is perceived in different circumstances and the psychological effects of color. Charles Lock Eastlake, painter and art scholar, translates and contributes important notes to Goethe’s Zur Farbenlehre, omitting most of Goethe’s polemical rejection of Newton’s Opticks. Without at all derogating the scientific value of Newtonian theory, Eastlake insists that Goethe’s principles on the harmony of color and his historical survey are more valuable for practicing artists than Newton’s scientific truths. Eastlake’s notes aim to draw out connections between Goethe’s theory and the practices of the Italian painters as an aid to British painters. Exact date of this event is unknown; if you have information about the correct date, please email felluga@purdue.edu with this information. Image: Angelica Kauffman, Portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1787, Goethe-Nationalmuseum (Weimar). This image is in the public domain in the United States as its copyright has expired.