The Colourful Sphere of Philipp Otto Runge

 Childhood Romance: Art!

Growing a lovely collection of new-to-me artists.

Today, 23rd July, is the birth-date of German Romantic artist Philipp Otto Runge (1777-1810). As a sickly child who had to be kept at home, his mother introduced him to scissor-cut silhouettes as a form of entertainment, sowing the seed of creativity he kept up in later years; as when he took art classes whilst an apprentice for a 'proper job'.

Self-Portrait in pastels, 1804/5

Casper David Frederick (who I had heard of & studied) was a fellow art student.

Moving in Colourful Circles

He also met and became friends with Johann Wolfgang Goethe at that time - sharing a passion for colour studies and theory.

His book Farben-Kugel (Colour Sphere) was published in 1810, had he lived longer he would have refined those early studies, which were taken up by others.

He was influenced by Jakob Bohme, a Christian mystic, believing that red, blue and yellow were closely aligned to the Trinity. Fascinating.

A Passion for Painting Children

He loved painting children, and fathered 4 himself, but having contracted TB, which caused his untimely death, he never saw his 4th child, born the day after Philipp died.

(right): Hulsenbeck Children, 1805

(Below) The Nightingale Bushes, 1810

I love how he is able to fluently paint both Romantic and Biblical scenes; the sublime and the epic:

Arion's Sea Journey, 1809

Peter Walking on the Sea, 1806

And his evident delight in the subject of Light - throughout the day, as in Morning: