Blue Gaze

“At this point it is necessary to mention that the artistic process of transformation, which forced Schönberg to listen to the voice within and obey it, was accompanied by a need for an increased power of expression, and this very need led him to give to his vision concrete form. With a perfectly astonishing talent he learnt the technique of painting, and in the time between 1907 and 1910 he painted a large number of pictures. His pictures fall into two clearly defined groups, namely, portraits and nature studies on the one hand, and on the other ‘color visions.’ Whatever one’s attitude towards these may be, one is, nevertheless, amazed at the power and directness of the artistic will that is behind them. One feels that they had to be painted in order to dominate the exuberant fancy within. As Schönberg acquired the mastery of the new musical technique, which he himself had created, the need to express himself in color gradually disappeared and finally ceased altogether. An exhibition of his pictures in the autumn of 1910 at Heller’s Art Gallery had the result that even people who had nothing to do with music, on the strength of the impression they gained from the exhibition, now believed they had the right to express an opinion on Schönberg the composer. Only a few felt the inner necessity that urged the solitary artist to express himself visually, and were thus able to penetrate more deeply into his music.” (Egon Wellesz, Arnold Schönberg, Vienna 1921)