Inspirations Behind Claude Debussy’s Nocturnes Called by one critic ‘America’s first great master of the night’, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) started his series of night views with paintings of the River Thames around 1870. He used the word ‘nocturne’ to

Inspirations Behind Maurice Delage’s Les demoiselles d’Avignon Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) shocked the art world with his 1907 painting, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. Some of its shock value may be realized by its original title: The Brothel of Avignon. Another part of

Carl Vollrath: Pollock’s Pictures As a painter, Jackson Pollock (1912–1956) broke all the rules. He pushed abstract expressionism to dizzying heights. Enjoying both fame and notoriety during his lifetime, his works continue to challenge us to see how he did,

Charles Koechlin: Paysages et marines, Op. 63 When French artist Henri Rivière (1864–1951) designed his first set of lithographs, it was for a very specific audience. The 16 pictures that formed Les aspects de la nature (Aspects of Nature) were

Stephen Hartke: The King of the Sun American composer Stephen Hartke (b. 1952) was commissioned by Chamber Music America for a work for the Los Angeles Piano Quartet. Written in 1988, his piece The King of the Sun is based

Inspirations Behind Philip Sawyers’ Hommage to Kandinsky The Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) was one of the founders of abstraction in western art and is also considered one of the most musical of the modern painters. He equated painting with

Jessica Krash: Be Seeing You American composer Jessica Krash was commissioned by two Washington DC arts institutions, the National Gallery of Art and The National Museum of Women in the Arts to create a work based on 14 works of

Simone Iannarelli: Siete pinturas de Frida Kahlo The Mexican artist Frieda Kahlo (1907–1954) was one of the first women artists who brought ideas rarely explored by male artists to the foreground in her work, including chronic pain, postcolonialism, gender, and