August Strindberg

Verwirrte Sinneseindrücke (Delirious Sensory Impressions)
Schriften zu Malerei, Fotografie und Naturwissenschaften (Writings on Painting, Photography, and the Natural Sciences)
VOLUME 150

Scientific Experiment and Speculation

The work of playwright, novelist, and painter August Strindberg (b. 1849 and d. 1912 in Stockholm) is distinguished by an intensive engagement with psychological and social themes. He began his career as a magazine art critic and never missed an opportunity to dole out sarcastic quips at the art establishment. He spent most of the eighteen-eighties and nineties abroad to escape the scorn and criticism of the conservative Swedish public. In addition to writing, he was interested in painting, photography, natural science, alchemy, and occultism. When he returned to Stockholm in 1896, he found recognition as a writer.

The essays in this collection, some of which have been translated into German for the first time, deal with chance in art, X-rays and photography, the fragmentary nature of sensory impressions, and formal correspondences in nature and art. Strindberg’s engagement with the natural sciences, especially chemistry and botany, reveal the author to be a visionary of the ensuing twentieth century.

With an epilogue by Thomas Fechner-Smarsly. Translated from Swedish and French by Angelika Grundlach.