Theory of Colours
"In didactic treatises, it is not of so much consequence to connect as to duly distinguish the various divisions of a subject, in order that at last, when every single class and case has been presented to the mind, the whole may be embraced in one comprehensive view." The above is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's rather longwinded way of saying that in science, observation is of the utmost importance. The sentence was extracted from his book, Theory of Colours, published in 1810. It is composed of 920 observations on the nature of light and colour, and couched in language that is by turns, poetic and scientific.
Goethe And Newton
According to John Gage, Theory of Colours was partly a polemic against the work of Isaac Newton, whose Opticks was published in 1704. Goethe refuted much of what was in the century-old scientific work, believing that the nature of colour could be understood purely through observation with the human eye. Observation 558 reads: "That all colours mixed together produce white is an absurdity which people have been accustomed to repeat for a century in opposition to the evidence of their senses."
Science or Non-Science?
We know today that it is the sum of all colours of light that amounts to white, while a mixture physical colour makes mud. But Goethe was unlikely to have access to the kind of equipment available to scientists, in this instance, a wheel of coloured segements (see illustration), with a spinning apparatus attached. However, the poet did experiment with glass prisms, and found a willing retinue of disciples for his work, most notably the artist, Otto Runge.
Physiological Colours (1-35)
Part One of the book deals with physiological colour, the colours that we see when we look at an object, and the phenomenon known as 'after-glow'. Goethe observed that the after-glow experienced by the eye of the seeing subject was always the complementary of the seen object. For example, a red object resulted in a green after-glow in the eye of its beholder. Look at the colour wheel again. Each colour is directly opposite its complementary in the wheel.
Objective Results
What was important to Goethe was that these experiments produced objective results. The after-glow of red is always green, no matter who experiences the effect, which is why he called it physiological colour. He observed that a light always casts a shadow that is its complementary. For example, a lemon light casts a mauve shadow. This knowledge was made much use of by the impressionist artists, later on in the nineteenth century. In Physical Colours (136-485) Goethe defines colour, light and dark, refraction and reflection.
Chemical Colours (486 - 687)
Part Three deals with the natural sources of physical colour. Here, Goethe shows himself to be a true scholar of Enlightenment. His observations reveal his in-depth knowledge of the newly-burgeoning earth sciences, evident by his use of terms like "acid", "alkali", and "oxydation". In Observation 496, he writes about minerals like silex, argil, mica, magnesia, talc and barytes. At times, I found the astuteness of his observations, hair-raising. "Everything living tends to colour...everything in which life is extinct tends to white." (Observation 586). There follows a series of experiments in which dyes are extracted from fruits and vegetables.
General Characteristics (688-715)
Goethe demonstrates over and over again, that colours are physical and extractable from organisms, that their absence and death is somehow interlinked. In Part Four, he ascribes metaphysical qualities to colour. In Observation 696 he lists the qualities "action", "light" and "brightness" under the rubric of yellow, and "negation", "shadow" and "darkness" under blues. We now know that such qualities exist only in the mind of the beholder. Relation to Philosophy (716-757) is the philosophical section of the book, in which Goethe deplores the fragmentation of the sciences: "To divide the united, to unite the divided is the life of nature...the inspiration and expiration of the world we live in." (Observation 739).
Effect of Colour With Reference to Moral Associations (758-920)
Ignore the long-winded, rather pompous title of the final section, this is what I call the fun part of the book. This series of observations has doubtlessly been of use, in the past two hundred years, to writers seeking inspiration for written features on colour in matters of dress and interior design. "Rooms which are hung with pure blue appear in some degree larger, but at the same time, empty and cold," (Observation 783) and "People of refinement have a disinclination to colours...women now appear almost universally in white and men in black," (Observation 841), are among the gems on offer here.
A Treasure Chest
Goethe also offers observations on the use of colour in art. In spite of its pleasures, Theory of Colours is not an easy read. Rather, it is a treasure chest to dip in to when seeking a gem to brighten a piece of creative writing. On that count, I do recommend that you plough through it.
Sources
Theory of Colours by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, John Murray, London, 1997
Colour And Culture: Practice and Meaning From Antiquity to Abstraction by John Gage, Thames and Hudson, 1993
Mary Phelan - I am an art historian, magazine editor, design philosopher and fiction writer. I am also a sometime artist and photographer.
