Rudolf Steiner
Born Feb 27th, 1861 – Died March 30, 1925
Anthroposophy, August 1925, Vol. IV, No. 8
Rudolf Steiner, the Artist
by Arild Rosenkrantz
Rarely has a man appeared in so many different aspects to his contemporaries as did Rudolf Steiner. The scientist saw him in the realm of nature knowledge expounding a new conception of nature’s mysteries.
The artist found in him astounding imaginative faculties together with all the qualities of the poet, endowed with latent executive powers in every branch of art which, had he been able to devote sufficient time to one particular branch, would have placed him in the foremost ranks of modern artists, be it in architecture, sculpture, painting or drama and stage-craft. And to those who sought a spiritual adviser in life and one who could indicate to them the road for the soul to travel under modem conditions so as to develop the highest human faculties and to sympathise and be in harmony with others, Rudolf Steiner was one of those rare advisers who would efface himself in his contact with his fellow men and allow his heart to beat only in rhythm with the strivings of those who came to him for help.
If the highest achievement of our human life is to combine in the soul the qualities of saint, artist and wise man, Rudolf Steiner remains in our memory as one who fulfilled the greatest claims that existence lays on us.
To those who seek for an understanding of art he was a beacon of light, illuminating the road which leads to the most noble, profound and true representation of art’s meaning and purpose. Two elements are always present in his work: the quality which enables art to present intangible spirit in forms borrowed from this earth, and secondly the power to place mankind in contact with the world of spirit through this channel, the channel of art. In his art we inwardly realize the aim to prove that everything on earth emanates from supersensible worlds and that a work of art fulfils its mission only when it brings us nearer to spiritual realms than we would be without this bond of union. Rudolf Steiner is able to make us conscious of the spiritual worlds through his art, and this art is also a counterpart to his spiritual science. Spiritual science explains why definite forms and colours must inevitably be as they are in art in order to reveal realities of the spiritual worlds. On one hand we have Steiner’s science of the universe and on the other, as a complement to this science, his art which reveals in its own way the world of spirit through form, colour and sound. In a world depending entirely on sense perception Steiner seemed to say to the artist: Not through merely looking at Nature will you be able to create true works of art nor through merely expressing your own personal soul experiences will true art arise. Only he creates truly who rises above sense perceptions into contact with supersensible forces which stand behind Nature’s phenomena and who, in his own inner life seeks the universal through his soul experiences, on one hand through conquering egoism and on the other through seeing beyond what the senses perceive.
Artists who were privileged to have personal intercourse with Rudolf Steiner felt the loftiness of his outlook and gained new inspiration every time he spoke to them about their work. Those who through special good fortune were able to work under him in the old Goetheanum had exceptional opportunities for his advice. To each he spoke individually in the way which helped them best along the right path and often he encouraged in students latent unsuspected faculties for art by giving them work connected with the building. Although he gave instruction and advice in countless lectures on art while the Goetheanum was being built, yet his personal help was of quite inestimable value.
It was in regard to the question of the way in which the figure of Christ should be treated in art that I had the privilege of hearing first from him his statements on this subject. He referred me to a description of the head of Christ which he had given in a lecture, and when I had attempted to work out the subject from his indications he explained how impossible and incorrect it is to experience the figure of Christ today in the way he appeared as Judge to the people of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. In speaking of the new presentation needed for humanity in the future, he rose from his chair, stretching his left arm above his head and pressing down the right saying: “You must imagine the central figure of Christ arising out of the colour yellow. Above His head in shades of purple and red, Lucifer seeking liberation from earth bondage; below in orange shades, Ahriman bound.”
This imaginative description, slightly altered, he carried over into a sketch destined to be reproduced at the east end of the small cupola of the Goetheanum. On the same day he indicated the composition for the sculpture group which he executed with Miss Maryon’s assistance and he also made a drawing for one of the windows where the conquest of Ahriman and Lucifer is expressed. It was as if the whole new conception of the central point of Christianity and the mystery of human life arose as an imaginative vision before him at the time when the Goetheanum attained a stage when he could introduce this crowning expression into it. Here one was brought into touch with true inspiration, for he seemed to conceive, as if in a flash of the imagination, a composition containing a whole new world outlook.
Never could artists have come into contact with a more sympathetic adviser than Rudolf Steiner. It was a wonderful experience to submit work to his judgment. Adverse criticism he never uttered, but always looked for the merit in the work and tried to help the artist to carry further anything that contained elements which he felt to be vital in a work of art. Whenever he looked at any attempt shown him, one felt his extraordinary respect for another person’s independence. He never urged his point of view as an artist, but gave such suggestions which would help one to advance further. On this account his criticisms were so specially personal and often misleading if followed by others. One also felt that he spoke to trained artists in a quite different way of advising to his manner of speaking to those who had come under the spell of art through Anthroposophy. And he dealt with children again, in yet another way. Artists he brought farther along the road of expression, giving them the true secret of creating within the domain of their special branch of art. His own personal joy in creating was apparent to all who saw him at work and in spite of having had no practical training in the ordinary sense of the word, his understanding of form and handling of colour was remarkable. His feeling for rhythm and structural fitness is proved by the forms he evolved in architecture and also by the extraordinary power contained in the modelling of the great group with which Miss Maryon helped him. She often spoke to me of the deep understanding for form which she felt in all those portions of the work that Dr. Steiner prepared for her or corrected. The fact that the head of Ahriman (copied by Miss Maryon in the group) was the first head he modelled showed how the feeling for modelling was within him.
Into painting he has brought entirely new conceptions. And in his achievements in the small cupola and in the three posters which he himself painted we see that he had mastered the most rebellious of all mediums – water-colours. No artist has been able so absolutely to control a fluid medium as Rudolf Steiner and this alone has opened up new possibilities in watercolour painting, apart from the astounding new content given the world in the Goetheanum paintings, done in this medium.
That Steiner had a most perfected sense for colour we can see in his staging of Eurythmy. Here the choice of costumes and the blending of light effects bear witness to what he wanted to achieve in regard to the colouring in the Goetheanum; but the difficulty of obtaining the right mediums both in glass and in paint, prevented a full realization of his ideals.
Rudolf Steiner always spoke modestly about his work as an artist and ever reiterated that the Goetheanum was but a small beginning. He looked for cooperation from artists to help him by their technical knowledge and experience, and one of the saddest points in connexion with the loss of the old Goetheanum is that the art world gave no assistance, no encouragement when the building was still there. He was left alone to battle for the regeneration of art, assisted by only a handful of pupils. Little or no understanding for what he arrived at was formed in those quarters where his help could bear most fruit for art. Like the work of all great pioneers, his art was ahead of his time.