capturing a mood and a fleeting light effect than delineating the architecture , Turner avoided getting too detailed with Venice ’ s famous buildings . He wasn ’ t above exaggerating the height of the Campanile or fudging the number of scrolls around the dome of Santa Maria della Salute . He had to work quickly , before the light changed . He even showed the city at different times of the day , like Monet ’ s changing depictions of the cathedral at Rouen . Although he died well before the Age of Impressionism , he anticipated the Impressionists ’ approach to painting with vivid colors and loose , intentionally indistinct brushstrokes .
Not all the tourists who recorded scenery in watercolor were professional artists . Some superb work was done by writers , composers , and gifted amateurs of every vocation . Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ( 1749-1832 ) was a remarkably versatile intellectual whose pursuits included poetry , fiction , playwriting , politics , and science . Although he never considered himself more than amateur at painting , he was one of the first modern color theorists . He did not invent the color wheel , but his symmetrical wheel with diametrically complimentary colors is essentially the same as artists use today . In addition to analyzing colors scientifically , he associated certain hues with emotions : red “ conveys an impression of gravity and dignity , and at the same time of grace and attractiveness ;” blue is “ gloomy and melancholy ;” orange “ produces an extreme excitement ;” and as for green , “ the beholder has neither the wish nor the power to imagine a state beyond it .”
Goethe ’ s own paintings are not especially colorful , but they show a sensitive approach to line . He traveled all over Italy from 1786 to 1788 , keeping copious diaries and sketching everything he saw . He was interested in Ancient Roman and Renaissance architecture , as seen in his depiction of St . Peter ’ s from a distance , but even more so in the geology and botany of Italy . He claimed to have “ no talent for visual art ,” but 2,600 of his drawings and paintings survive .
The great composer Felix Mendelssohn ( 1809- 1847 ) was as accomplished with images as he was with music . He traveled throughout his short life , sketching and painting constantly . He found inspiration in the natural beauty of Italy , Switzerland , and Britain , which he depicted in paint and music , but had only contempt for the music of the natives . He found Welsh folk music particularly intolerable : to him it was “ the most infamous , vulgar , out-of-tune trash .” In Rome , “ The orchestras are worse than anyone could believe ; both musicians and a right feeling for music are wanting .”
On a journey to Switzerland , he wrote , “ I composed not even a bit of music , but rather drew entire days , until my fingers and eyes
“ St . Peter ’ s Basilica in Rome ” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe , 1787
38 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE