“Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.”
Modest Mussorgsky
As philosopher Richard Wollheim says, art is “one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture.” In its simplest manifestation, art is a form of communication that serves as a vehicle for the expression of emotions and ideas. As ideas and beliefs are culturally specific and constantly changing over time, there really is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art. That being said, the classical branches of the visual arts are identified as painting, sculpture and architecture. Literature and poetry are considered part of the humanities or as one of the arts, while music, alongside theatre, film and dance belong to the performing arts. In this section you will discover not only specific explorations of individual art forms, but also a more detailed probing of the relationship between the visual arts and music, including painting and music, sculpture and music and architecture and music. Originally, poetry and music were treated as a unity, but gradually they have become more independent. Nevertheless, the two art forms have never forgotten their shared genetic makeup, and been intertwined for millennia. Art and music have engaged in a dynamic relationship that reveals a diverse range of human activity intended to be appreciated for their beauty.
Steven Malinowski got frustrated at reading a complicated score and decided to animate it, and thus, the Music Animation Machine was born. Its first life was last century – way back in the mid-1970s… a time before personal computers, before
Five hundred years ago, on October 31, 1517 Martin Luther supposedly nailed his Ninety-five Theses to the doors of the Schlosskirche (Castle Church) in Wittenberg, railing against Catholic Church corruption (in particular against the ‘Sale of Indulgences’) dividing Christianity, and
The current exhibition ‘Calder: Hypermobility’ at the Whitney Museum in New York City raises interesting questions about Alexander Calder’s art and its relationship to 20th century music. In his youth, Calder had shown not only an interest in art, but
American painter Cy Twombly (1929-2011), a modernist with a strong calligraphic sense, moved from abstract art to ‘romantic symbolism.’ The titles of the works are the key to their interpretation – visually, you may be seeing shapes, forms, and words
On a recent trip through the Provence in France, through fields of lavender, sunflowers, vineyards and olive trees, I was reminded of the importance of landscapes, and that of the Provence in particular, as inspiration for many artists, including Frédéric
Between 1886 and 2003, the Calais-Mediterranée Express shuttled wealthy, beautiful and famous passengers between Calais and the French Riviera. Because of its dark blue sleeping cars, it was colloquially known as “Le Train Bleu,” or simply the “Blue Train” in
Music was always part of Henri Matisse’s (1869-1954) life. He played the violin on a daily basis, reflecting the rigorous structure and precise technique which corresponded to his artistic methods. It also provided him with an escape and source of
Two of the greatest of Mexico’s artists, composer and pianist Carlos Chávez and painter and muralist Diego Rivera created a ballet on an unlikely subject: Caballos de vapor (Horsepower, or H.P.). The subject however, was close to both artists’ hearts:
