Goethe als Zeichner (review)

246 GOETHE SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA Goethe als Zeichner, ed. by Wolfgang Hecht. Munich: CH. Beck, 1982. This volume sponsored by the Goethe Archives in Weimar offers 200 drawings by Goethe, culled from the thousands of works on paper that have been published in the tenvolume Corpus der Goethezeichnungen. The idea of making a selection of these works available to the general audience was an excellent one. The affordable volume makes it possible for students of Goethe to become acquainted with works that were formerly accessible only in Weimar or in larger research libraries holding the Corpus. The selection concentrates primarily on landscape drawings, but also includes some portraits, a few of the sketches fot the staging of Faust, and the "Radierte Blätter," the collection of six engravings prepared from drawings by Goethe and published with pendant verses by Goethe in 1821. About 65 of the drawings date from Goethe's first years in Weimar, while another 50 were made during the Italian Journey. The remaining works are drawn from the "post-Italian" years. The organization of the book thus closely follows the chronological format of the Corpus volumes. AU of the reproduced works are taken from the collections in Weimar. One useful feature of the volume is that it includes passages from Goethe's correspondence and journals that relate to specific drawings, placing them next to the appropriate works. The index provides details about the size, format, medium, and date of each work, along with some information about the subjects of the portraits. Wisely, the editor has excluded the large number of drawings that Goethe prepared in connection with his scientific studies. The volume is dedicated strictly to Goethe's activity as an amateur artist. It provides the basis then for critics to familiarize themselves with the productive side of Goethe's intense, lifelong engagement with the visual arts. The introduction by Wolfgang Hecht provides helpful information about Goethe's formal training in drawing and about the extent of his activity as an artist in the various phases of his career. Readers who are trained in literary studies rather than in art history may wish, however, that the editor had provided more guidance about the value and the historical context of Goethe's drawings. While a number of the works are quite lovely and would be welcome additions to a collection of older drawings, many others seem slight and perfunctory. It would be helpful here to learn something about the professional standards that are used to distinguish a casual notebook notation from the drawing with serious artistic aspirations. The editor also provides no information about amateur drawing as a widespread activity in educated and aristocratic circles in the 18th century. How do Goethe's works compare with those of other dilettantes of the period? Is there any reason to believe that his work is exceptional or outstanding within the category of amateur drawing? Other questions arise. How does Goethe's frequent praise of drawing as a discipline for the spirit and the senses relate to similar notions which have long been part of the culture of the courtier, both in the Orient and in Europe? A bit more information of this sort would certainly have enhanced the non-specialist reader's understanding of the significance of the drawings collected here. Instead, Hecht approaches the works from the perspective of Goethe's literary biography, seeking to demonstrate the "inner unity" of the pictorial works and the contemporary writing. The pictures are thus made to adapt to the all-too-familiar phases of Goethe's literary career. Pictures of the "Sturm und Drang" period are said to be emotional, subjective, passionate, John Gearey 247 moody, and temperamental. Not too surprisingly, the drawings of the Weimar period turn then from "subjective experience" to "objective observation of reality." Finally, the drawings of the late period are concerned with "questions of worldly understanding." Since none of the "Sturm und Drang" drawings are included in the volume, the reader has no chance to judge the aptness of this part of the stereotypical scheme. But in the case of the late drawings, the biographical clichées have simply prevented Hecht from seeing his materials clearly...