# Music-Themed Visual Art



## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

My mother is a sculptor and she always listens to music while she works, mostly classical. She recently showed me a series of small statues she made while listening to the Brahms Requiem, and it got me thinking about the interplay between the arts, and particularly, about visual art inspired by music.

So, *this is a place to post any music-inspired art you would like to share, be it portraits of composers or musicians, abstract works inspired by a particular piece of music, or anything really.* And say a few words about it, if you feel so inclined.

I will start with a couple paintings by Gustav Klimt. In 1902 Klimt painted a large wall mural, the Beethoven Frieze, for an exhibition honoring Beethoven. One section features a knight who is believed to be modeled after Gustav Mahler.









In 1899, Klimt painted _Schubert at the Piano_. The portrait of the composer was taken from a watercolor painted by Leopold Kupelwieser during Schubert's lifetime. I read that Klimt was trying "to create a mood and ambiance in which Schubert would have entertained the assembled guests," but the soft light and quiet, intimate atmosphere contrast with other paintings I have seen of Schubertiades, so I think this is perhaps just how Klimt liked to imagine them.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

My grandmother is a painter who also listens to music when she paints. Usually the subjects are women, children, flower arrangements but most spectacularly - landscapes. She paints in a very impressionistic style. Last year I took her to the concertgebouw seeing Berio's Sinfonia. After that she was inspired to paint her first painting in a more modern 'abstract' style. Cant wait to see it!


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I had the pleasure of getting paid to create visual art set to music for almost ten years...it was a truly unique experience in the sense that each planetarium in the world is unique in itself and has completely different equipment from the next...I was working basically 70's style having to record soundtracks onto reel to reel, cutting and splicing...I had twenty three projectors with which to play and create images for on slides that I photographed and developed myself...after that, an array of special effects ranging from video and gobo lights all the way to oil effects and hand crafted lights and, of course, lots and lots of fog...ahh, very nice times and you'd be proud that when I did use music, it was almost always classical and without a doubt among the best of the best...if you're ever in the Miami area check out the planetarium...my voice will teach you how to find the stars of the season and you'll get a glimpse of my work, although they don't play my more artistic shows anymore; they were mostly created for a one-time affair.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

emiellucifuge said:


> My grandmother is a painter who also listens to music when she paints. Usually the subjects are women, children, flower arrangements but most spectacularly - landscapes. She paints in a very impressionistic style. Last year I took her to the concertgebouw seeing Berio's Sinfonia. After that she was inspired to paint her first painting in a more modern 'abstract' style. Cant wait to see it!


Ooh, I'd love to see a painting inspired by the Berio Sinfonia. That sounds really cool!


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