“Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Spruche in Prosa, 1819. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man.

Morris Broderson, "Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess."--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Spruche in Prosa, 1819. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1963, pastel and charcoal on paper mounted on composition board, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.36
Morris Broderson, "Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess."--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Spruche in Prosa, 1819. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1963, pastel and charcoal on paper mounted on composition board, sheet: 33 x 42 7⁄8 in. (83.9 x 109.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.36

Artwork Details

Title
“Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Spruche in Prosa, 1819. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man.
Artist
Date
1963
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 33 x 42 7⁄8 in. (83.9 x 109.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Container Corporation of America
Mediums
Mediums Description
pastel and charcoal on paper mounted on composition board
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
Object Number
1984.124.36
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1984.124.36

Works by this artist (1 item)

Viktor Natali-Morosow, "We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it."--Thomas Jefferson, letter to Carmichael and Short, 1793. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1964, oil, pencil and ink on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.223
“We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we…
Artist
Date1964
oil, pencil and ink on wood
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Reginald Pollack, "Perhaps the only goal on earth toward which mankind is striving lies in the process of attaining, in other words, in life itself, and not in the thing to be attained."--Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground, 1864. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man., 1963, oil, ink and colored pencil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Container Corporation of America, 1984.124.239
“Perhaps the only goal on earth toward which mankind is…
Artist
Date1963
oil, ink and colored pencil on canvas
Not on view
William Alvin Blayney, Mural No. GU-43752 (All Rights Reserved), 1969, oil, pen, and pencil on masonite, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.6
Mural No. GU-43752 (All Rights Reserved)
Artist
Date1969
oil, pen, and pencil on masonite
On view
Pat Steir, Looking for the Mountain, 1971, oil, pencil, crayon, and ink on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Richard M. Hollander in honor of Jean S. Lighton, 1984.137
Looking for the Mountain
Artist
Date1971
oil, pencil, crayon, and ink on canvas
Not on view
Unidentified, Portrait of the Thomas W. Lawson, after 1906, oil, paper, sand, and pen and ink on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.154
Portrait of the Thomas W. Lawson
Artist
Unidentified
Dateafter 1906
oil, paper, sand, and pen and ink on paperboard
Not on view