In 1943, William Grant Still wrote his Suite for Violin and Piano, which took as its inspiration three sculptures: Richmond Barthé’s African Dancer, Sargent Johnson’s Mother and Child, and Augusta Savage’s Gamin. Each of these works was created in the
Arts
The classicist painter Anselm Feuerbach was one of the artists who formed a close friendship with Brahms, and who was often compared to him. He sought in his art to both follow a stringent aesthetic and a Classical restraint, while
In the middle of Houston, Texas, lies a point of solitude. Given the title of a chapel, it’s a place for spiritual matters, but at the same time, it’s a gathering place for world leaders seeking solutions that will culminate
Francis Poulenc knew all the best poets, setting the works of Apollinaire and Éluard again and again. He set the poets to opera (Les Mamelles de Tiresias), for a cappella choir, for voice and piano, in a secular cantata (Figure
In his ground-breaking book on physiognomy, the Swiss writer Johan Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801) sought to find the face of God in the men around him. Taking literally the notion that God created man in his own image, Lavater, sought to
The American composer and critic Virgil Thomson (1896-1989) believed in the ‘discipline of spontaneity.’ His music aimed at a clarity and simplicity that was unusual in 20th century composers. One of the outcomes of this search for spontaneity was his
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) was the youngest of J.S. Bach’s eleven sons and made his career in London, where he was called the “English Bach.” Born when his father was 50 years old, he lived with his older half-brother C.P.E.
The French pastillist Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788) is known for his portraits of the most famous men and women of his time, including Voltaire, Rousseau, Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour. He also captured some of the most