JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE (German /
1749-1832)
Although he is remembered today as Germany's greatest writer, early in life Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was inclined to become a painter; his lifelong interest in art is evidenced in his book On Colour. While studying law in Leipzig from 1765-1768, Goethe took drawing lessons from Adam Friedrich Oeser, director of the Leipzig Academy, who became a key influence on him. It was Oeser who encouraged Goethe to take up etching, and taught him the technique. The two Goethe etchings in our possession were printed in 1893 from plates that had remained in the possession of a Leipzig family and were subsequently donated to the Leipzig city library. Goethe etched them in 1768, at the age of 18. Both are interpretative etchings after landscapes by Alexander Thiele (1686-1752), and each has an etched dedication below the image, one to Goethe's father, and the other to his law teacher Dr. Christian Gottfried Hermann.
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Selected prints by
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
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Landschaft nach A.
Thiele (Dedié à
Monsieur le Docteur
Hermann),
1768
Etching |
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Landschaft nach A.
Thiele (Dedié à
Monsieur Goethe),
1768
Etching |
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View all available prints by
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
