Goethe's Farbenlehre in the context of its time

• Grant number: 26/10039-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: August 24, 2026
• End date: February 23, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Marco Aurélio Werle
• Grantee: João Augusto Araújo Ferreira
• Supervisor: Christian Hain
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Goethe- und Schiller-Archiv, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 25/00213-1 - Aesthetics and nature in Goethe's Farbenlehre, BP.MS

Abstract

The aim of this research project is to examine Goethe's doctrine of colors, as set forth in his Zur Farbenlehre (1810), in light of the aesthetic discourse of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The study focuses on the genesis and structure of this work, as documented in Goethe's correspondence, essays, and manuscripts, with special attention to the debate with contemporaries in various fields. More than a scientific treatise, the Farbenlehre constitutes a broader attempt by Goethe to articulate an aesthetic understanding of the nature of colors that extends to artistic practice. Based on the writings of the author and his interpreters, the research aims to situate his doctrine of colors within the broader discussions of German Idealism and Romanticism, as well as the history of painting. This investigation will contribute not only to an interpretive study of Farbenlehre but also to the analysis of part of Goethe's own correspondence, both of which remain largely unexplored in Brazil from a philosophical perspective. (AU)