Music can paint pictures without the listener actually seeing them. We can listen to music and in our own heads see the picture the song paints. Music is art so its easy to paint a picture using music as the main influence. This gallery shows art pieces that have music as the main focus.
Music Machine, Sonni, 2010/2013, From the collection of: graffitimundo
Music Machine depicts the different musical instruments and notes.The theme of my gallery is color and looking at the picture you can see the piece is very colorful with the blue, yellow and red pattern. It almost looks like Pop Art with its bright vibrant colors.
Sir David Willcocks, Ruskin Spear, 1985, From the collection of: Royal College of Music
The painting is of Sir David Willcocks who is a famous music composer. The piece is a self portrait and it has very saturated colors used give it a pleasing look to the viewer. The shadows that cast on his shirt give the piece a natural look and the highlights on his head add to the painting with the little details.
The Music Lesson, Gerard ter Borch, about 1668, From the collection of: The J. Paul Getty Museum
The Music Lesson is a painting showing a man teaching a woman how to play a musical instrument. Looking at the style it looks like oil on canvas. What stands out for me is her coat. The red tone jumps out because of the earthy dark tones from the rest of her painting.
Girl Interrupted at Her Music, Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1658-59, From the collection of: The Frick Collection
Girl Interrupted at Her Music is self explanatory. This woman is being interrupted while she is performing or writing music. This piece has a very dark tone. The only bright color would be her coat. The dark colors on the walls around the window give the painting a natural feel and look.
Still Life with Musical Instruments and Books, Bartholomeo Bettera, Mid-17th century, From the collection of: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Still Life with Musical Instruments is a still life of various musical instruments. Usually still life pieces require a lot of detail including placement, color, and shading. The piece has a lot of colors and are not so dark as the other pieces. The color that stands out for me is the red cloth. The dark background is a great use of lighting and correct shading. The piece looks like it might have been done by candle light. The instruments look smooth and over a lot of detail including the piano and the marks on the wood.
Portrait of a Man Playing a Guitar, George Chinnery, 1774–1852, British, between 1830 and 1840, From the collection of: Yale Center for British Art
Portrait of a Man Playing a Guitar depicts a simple color palette. Most of the colors are earthy tones like brown, black and grey. The guitar sticks to me, the color of the guitar and the shadow it casts over the sheet music is a very nice touch. The focal point I would say is probably the red curtain in the background. A painting with dull and dark colors makes the red stand out more.
Lady at the Virginal with a Gentleman, 'The Music Lesson', Johannes Vermeer, c.1662 - 1665, From the collection of: Royal Collection Trust, UK
The painting depicts two people at what it looks like a piano. This painting is actually brighter than the previous ones in the gallery. The floor has a dark color but with the white squares it brightens up the tone. The sunlight coming through the windows gives it a natural light to the piece. The colors are very bland. There are not very bright colors in this piece.
A Musical Party, Abraham van der Schoor, 1657, From the collection of: Spencer Museum of Art
A Musical Party depicts a man playing an instrument similar to a guitar and women enjoying the music. Sine the painting has a point of view from the back of the stage, the colors are brighter. The clothes the audience are wearing complimentary colors. The yellow and the blue work well together as well as the red and blue.
(Front), From the collection of: The J. Paul Getty Museum
Portrait of a Man with a Sheet of Music takes place outside on a sunny day. Since its bright outside the colors would obviously be bright. Having the man's clothes be a darker green balances between the dark and bright palette. The man could possibly be the focal point because of his dark clothing. The texture of his clothes are very well done, you could almost touch the painting and feel the fabric of his clothes.
Guitar on a table, Juan Gris, 1915, From the collection of: Kröller-Müller Museum
Guitar on a Table is an abstract painting depicting a guitar on a table, but the guitar is seen on the different pages and books on the table. The blue guitar and the black and yellow polka dot pattern tot he side of the painting compliment each other. The color pattern of the floor makes the painting dark but having the blue on top of the table helps balance between dark and bright.
Credits: All media
This user gallery has been created by an independent third party and may not represent the views of the institutions whose collections include the featured works or of Google Arts & Culture.
