Südliche Landschaft am Meer mit bewaldeten Hügeln und einem Gewässer im Vordergrund 1787

Curator: This is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Southern Landscape by the Sea with Wooded Hills and a Body of Water in the Foreground," created in 1787. It's currently held here at the Städel Museum. Goethe used watercolor and ink, combining them en plein air to capture this vista. Editor: Mmm, that phrase, "en plein air" always tickles me... It feels so alive, right? Anyway, looking at it, there's this quiet, almost dreamy quality. Like a half-remembered vacation. Was it always this faded, or did time do its gentle work on the pigments? Curator: The fading is, alas, time’s work, certainly. Goethe was deeply interested in landscape not just aesthetically, but scientifically. He sought to understand nature’s processes, its geology, its flora, all within a framework that, during his time, was increasingly shaped by Enlightenment ideals and burgeoning Romantic sentiment. Editor: I see what you mean, but Romantic sentiment almost mutes the specifics, no? It becomes less about the actual place and more about… Goethe’s internal state when looking at the place. Those soft blues and pinks in the sky, for example—they seem like a projection. Curator: Exactly! He's using observation as a foundation for expressing his inner feelings. The piece also speaks to the growing fashion of landscape painting—depicting places as a demonstration of the picturesque. And with travel becoming increasingly accessible, we see paintings as a means to disseminate images and ideas about other places, fueling dreams of travel, or maybe, a sense of national identity, Editor: Okay, that hits a little deeper, because Goethe's piece definitely transports me. I see all this social and artistic backdrop you’ve unpacked…and I still think he’s really just showing us what’s behind his eyes in that precise moment. Curator: A point well taken. We always return to the subjectivity of vision, don't we? Art mediates our relationship with the world, and Goethe's Southern landscape really crystallizes that beautifully. Editor: Beautifully put! And on that note, I'm left contemplating my next mental journey...