Music and Painting

Music and painting are two different forms of art but they go hand in hand. Harmony is an attribute for pieces of music the same as it is a painting. Lines and colors flow across the canvas in a rhythm just as a musical work does. A piece of music sparks mental images and memories as the viewer feels emotions from the heart while in the experience. The same is true of paintings.

The two art forms complement each other. When I listen to Mozart, I imagine beautiful paintings. When I immerse myself into a painting, I hear the great works of musical masterpieces in my head, in symphonic glory as I gaze at form, light, shadow, and line. Every brush stroke, every speck of paint, every blade of grass, reflection, rock, and grain of sand is a symphony.

I can't imagine a time when music was a luxury, even for the rich. Today I sit at my computer and while I blog or work I am constantly listening to music. When in my car, no matter where the destination or who I'm with, music is at least a background ambiance. People carry Ipods to the gym, the library, while jogging, and wherever else they go. Music is everywhere and it's a great time to be living with this technology. Too often I think we take this for granted. Scarcity may increase value in simple economics, but when dealing with music, there can never be too much.

We associate certain times in our lives with a certain songs, perhaps because we heard the song on the radio at that time, or we later reminisced about the event while feeling strong emotions, listening to a song. Either way, music brings back memories of all kinds large and small, and when we here it, we have strong feelings. Just the same as events I tend to associate certain paintings with certain songs for whatever reason.

When I did the photo expedition of Philadelphia statues for the first time, I had Bach harpsichord music in my head the whole time. I had listened to it on the way up and it stayed in my head while I was out shooting, so I will forever associate the music with that sunny day around the art museum. Another time at the museum I saw the Dali exhibit and was enthralled. The song by the Killers Everything Will Be Alright played in my head, particularly the slower part. The eerie part of the song resonated with the dreamy paintings of Dali; the whole experience was surreal.

Sometimes music fits perfectly with artwork. I put together a small collage of Caravaggio paintings and put some music in the background. The music is a 16th century madrigal, with singing but no instruments. It was written by the Italian composer Arcadelt who lived in the time of Caravaggio. Not only was it from the same region and time, but the beautiful voices go along perfectly with the masterpieces of the painter.

There's also more music I think of Caravaggio when listening to. It's from a fairly unknown band from the '90s called Crash Test Dummies. One of their songs about skeletons in the closet was called The Ghosts That Haunt Me:

    * You're so kind/ I know you would not mind/ Send away the ghosts that haunt me now./ Then things I fear just wouldn't seem so near,/ when I stroll out late at night,/ would be nothing rattling at my heals...

You, Constant Reader, may know that Caravaggio is my favorite artist, with this being the fifth post mentioning him. Caravaggio had an interesting life and I can imagine how it must have felt toward the end, around 1610. At this point Caravaggio had been on the run from the law having been charged with the death of Ranuccio Tomassoni, constantly moving, seeking the aid of powerful patrons. He had a price on his head, and his own fear of decapitation was inherent in his artwork depicting themes of that nature- Medusa, David and Goliath, etc. The songs seems to go along with what he must have felt, wanting an end to the whole affair.

Of course, some songs have a special place in the artist's heart as they remind of their own creation. Just as I listen to music doing every other day to day activity, I also listen to music while painting. Most painters I know do. I like to set up a specific playlist that has something to do with the painting I'm working on. Paintings like Vampire had lots of Type O Negative, Ozzy's Ghost Behind My Eyes, Billy Idol's Eyes Without a Face, and Nine Inch Nails, etc.

At least two posts in the near future will be about some paintings and the songs that come to mind when I look at them. Some of them I painted and remember certain songs while painting them.

But one more note about music and art. There's one piece of music in history that is the pinnacle of all artistic achievement. This, of course, is the Ninth Symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Other composers had higher IQs, constructed more mathematically perfect works, and are held in higher regarded by historians. But no other work encapsulates body, mind, heart, and spirit as does this piece of work. The entire 4th movement, particularly, is just phenomenal.

I said I picture paintings when I hear music like this, but in this case I see the beauty and genius of all works of art in human history combined. Great music like this can be considered dated and old, but never obsolete. It does not get better than this. It is art straight from the human soul.