Exhibition:Goethe, transformation of the world

Title:       Goethe, transformation of the world

Time:      17 May - 15 September 2019

Place: ​     Museumsmeile Bonn
                 Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 4
                 53113 Bonn

Patron:    Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier

Art is a mediator of the unspeakable.

-- Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) painted by Heinrich Christoph Kolbe, 1806

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) is Gerrmany's most famous poet and writer whose works have been translated into every major languages, and characters like Faust and Werther as references can been seen in every genre of art. In his long and pro folic life, he had also been playwright, botanist, geologist, optical scientist, politician, philosopher, literary historian, art critic, theorist and collector...During and after his life, he had also served as inspiration for other writers and artists like painters, sculptors as well as composers, photographers and even film directors.

Georgi Takev Goethe in the Roman Campagna 1996 Oil on canvas © Museo Casa di Goethe

The exhibition: Gothe, transformation of the World is the first major Goethe exhibition in 25 years held at Bonn's Bundeskunsthalle (the last major show of Gothe was held at Schirn Kunsthalle in 1984), featuring more than 300 works—including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, memorabilia, film and music—will present a synthetic account of Goethe’s life and work in nine thematic sections, mostly with historical examples. Among these are portraits of Goethe by Angelika Kauffmann and Heinrich Christoph Kolbe, Goethe’s notes for Werther, his annotated German translation of the Koran, Goethe’s own drawing of the appearance of the Earth Spirit from Faust, plus selections from his collections of minerals, maiolica and seals. 

These works will shed light on Gothe's life, the dawn of our modern world and on the history of the reception of his singular work.

The modern and contemporary works in the exhibition will help demonstrate how Goethe is “relevant”, both directly or indirectly.

Andy Warhol Goethe 1982 Screenprint

The exhibition has been organised by Johanna Adam, a curator at the Bundeskunsthalle, and Thorsten Valk, a curator at the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, and is a collaboration between the two institutions. 

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