Prof. Dr. Sandra Richter: The Colors of Literature

They met in Paris—including in 1907 at the Salon d’Automne, where the memorial exhibition for Paul Cézanne was taking place: Rainer Maria Rilke, the poet inspired by the visual arts, and Harry Graf Kessler, the art lover, patron, and supporter. In their works, it seems as though texts, too, can glow in bright colors—for example, in the crystalline blue of the skies as Cézanne painted them. This lecture explores the artistic dimensions in Rilke’s work and in Kessler’s diary, which were inspired by their exchanges with the painters and sculptors of their time. 

Biography: 
Sandra Richter is a professor of modern German literature at the University of Hamburg and has been director of the German Literature Archive in Marbach since 2019. Her publications include *In Praise of Optimism: A History of the Art of Living* (2009), *A World History of German-Language Literature* (2017), and *Rainer Maria Rilke or The Open Life* (2025).

Sandra Richter
The Colors of Literature. Rainer Maria Rilke, Harry Graf Kessler, and Their Contemporaries
Wednesday, September 23, 7 p.m., Museum Barberini
Tickets: €14/10 (includes admission to the exhibition on this day starting at 5:30 p.m.)