Dick Bruin on Rudolf Steiner and his Colour Theory in the spirit of Goethe.
We welcome you to the July 2022 edition of ” Through Different Eyes “. In this issue, we address Rudolf Steiner (architect, writer, philosopher and founder of the anthroposophy) and his study of colours. He was heavily influenced by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), often referred to as Germany’s greatest poet,
All year around, Brinkman Fine Real Estate invites you into a carefully curated portfolio of properties in The Netherlands and beyond, each one a masterpiece of architectural distinction.
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The Second Goethanium, Dornach (Switzerland), 1928.
THE PHENOMENON OF COLOURS
Dick Bruin on Rudolf Steiner and his colour theory in the spirit of Goethe
If you look for a book or an article by Rudolf Steiner (architect, writer, philosopher and founder of the anthroposophy) on the study of colours, you will find it in vain among the many works he left behind. Already around 1890, after studying Goethe’s work, Steiner expressed the wish “to write a colour theory in the spirit of Goethe and on the level of modern natural science”. Unfortunately, he lacked the means and later the time to do so. Instead, he gave many lectures, shorter or longer, on the subject of colour and painting.
Steiner thus found the impetus for his study of colour in the work of Goethe. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), often referred to as Germany’s greatest poet, made a long journey through Italy in the years 1787 and 1788. The impressions he gained there caused a great revolution in him. He developed an enormous admiration for classical art and architecture, and was continually amazed by the beautiful colours of the landscapes he crossed during his trip. Inspired by all these new experiences, he felt the need to focus on colours. This research would ultimately take almost forty years. Goethe did not agree with the views of the then current natural sciences. Explaining the origins and effects of colour from a mechanical reality behind the phenomena contrasted sharply with Goethe’s direct impressions and experiences. After many years of work, the first fruits of his research into the world of colours appeared in 1810 under the title ‘Entwurf einer Farbenlehre’.
These writings came to Steiner’s attention because he had been commissioned in 1882 to edit Goethe’s natural science writings for a new edition. In Goethe’s approach to colour research, Steiner saw a method by which the world of natural phenomena could be meaningfully approached. Steiner had in fact long been occupied with the question of how he could build a bridge between sensory perceptions and spiritual insights. Gradually he discovered a world in which the spiritual nature of the sensory colours reveals itself. In the first three lectures of this book, Steiner speaks very clearly and ‘systematically’ about the field of colours and in particular about his discovery of the so-called glossy and image colours. This discovery and its description are the most essential part of his innovative insights in the field of painting. His motive for studying colour theory was to elevate art and architecture to a higher level. Such a theory of colours is really so alive within that it can be transferred from the soul straight to art.
Goethe’s theory of colours
This motif of Steiner’s is directly linked to what Goethe describes as the “sensory-moral effect” of colour. This sensory-moral effect means that every colour evokes a certain emotion in people. Goethe considered his work on the theory of colour very important: ‘Of all that I have done as a poet, I have no high opinion […]. But I am proud of the fact that in the difficult science of colourology I am the only one in my century who knows the right thing.
Goethe discovered that all natural processes can be traced back to forces that are polar opposites. These forces are not only to be found in the world, but also in man himself. Goethe calls the polarity underlying the colours light and darkness. Between these two extremes, colours are created and live. Colours are “the deeds and sufferings of light”. This famous quote by Goethe refers to the struggle of light with darkness.
Goethe constructs a world out of light, darkness and clouded atmosphere from numerous colour samples: a threefold world. He distinguishes only two pure colours: blue and yellow. Pure yellow does not allow for the presence of blue, and vice versa. These two colours are polar opposites. This discovery comes from observing what happens when a cloudy medium slides in front of the light, respectively an illuminated medium slides in front of the darkness. In the first case, a yellow to red colour is produced, in the second a bluish violet colour. We see these colour phenomena every day. The blue of the sky is created when the sunlit atmosphere around the Earth is in front of the black universe. We see a yellow-red colour at sunrise or sunset. The light then shines through the moist and sometimes polluted atmosphere, and this layer of air causes a certain cloudiness. Yellow, orange and red thus occur as activity of the light in the darkness; blue as action of the darkness in the light.
These two primal phenomena stand at the beginning of Goethe’s theory of colour. By ‘intensifying’ both processes, yellow-red and blue-red are created. When these two “shine” into each other, purple (red) is created. When yellow and blue mix, the colour green is created. Thus the circle closes. At the top of the circle the red connects the violet and the orange. At the bottom of the circle the green joins yellow and blue. Red is created by intensifying the yellow and blue. Green is created by mixing these two colours.
Steiner’s connection to Goethe
Rudolf Steiner continues the path opened up by Goethe. He indicates this already at the age of twenty-eight in his article “Goethe as father of a new aesthetics”. We see from this that man, having arrived at a higher stage of civilisation, can by no means remain ignorant of reality as it unfolds before our senses. Only when the human spirit transcends the boundaries of this reality, breaks through the scale and penetrates to the core, does it reveal what this world is in its deepest essence.
Steiner’s experiments with painting and architecture took flight during the construction of the “first Goetheanum”, the building he himself designed, which rose on a hill in Dornach, Switzerland, near Basel, from 1913 to 1922. The two domes of this building were painted with scenes from the various stages of human development. New techniques and specially developed vegetable paints were used. Thin colourful veils of paint created a fantastic play of colours, in which human and spiritual figures emerged radiantly and clearly from the colour. The colours weaved weightlessly into each other and yet condensed into clear images. This work gave rise to many discussions with artists from all over Europe, who, following Steiner’s instructions, ventured to paint the large dome in particular. The sheer size of the two domes (together over 600 m2) made this work a unique project. But the effect of the colours made it above all a revolutionary breakthrough in the art of painting, applied to architecture.
However, at New Year’s Eve 1922 – 1923, the large domed building made entirely of wood burned down. The second Goetheanum, which dates from 1928, was therefore made of concrete. However, this concrete was cast in sculptural forms. Steiner’s “creed” can also be found here. Like the first Goetheanum, these rooms are richly decorated with sculptures and paintings representing the evolution of mankind. The “slanting” organic forms given to the building were also carried through into the halls and were intended to give visitors a kind of spiritual expression.
Author: Dick Bruin, author and teacher of art history.
Source: Steiner, R. The essence of colours (Amsterdam: EF-EF, 1999).
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The Barn
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