Goethe's Theory of Colours

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Goethe's Theory of Colours" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is a book published in German in 1810. The poet challenges Isaac Newton's spectral theory, arguing that color arises from the interaction between light and darkness rather than from light alone. Through extensive observations of colored shadows, refraction, and prisms at varying distances, Goethe presents a phenomenological approach focused on human perception. His work profoundly influenced artists including Turner and Kandinsky, while sparking debate among physicists and philosophers about the nature of color itself.