Page 109 - AC-2-4

Arts & Communication On the interplay between painting and music

around, the orchestral composition “La Mer” by Claude It also includes transmedia connections between artists
Debussy is said to have been inspired by “The Great Wave” and particular works of art, such as ownership or personal
by Katsushika Hokusai. Artists that master both arts may attitudes (likes or dislikes) toward a visual or musical piece.
be moving both ways around (as Tankian does), getting For instance, it is said that Debussy had a copy of “The Great
inspiration from either visual or music pieces to transcend Wave” hanging on the wall of his living room, while one of
to the other medium. the most uncanny connection examples (offered by a focus-
The morphological level includes all aspects related to group participant) was between the soprano Maria Callas
the forms and their structural attributes included within and the painting titled “La sacra famiglia” by Giambettino
two works of art, visual, and music, which have been Cignaroli, which is said to have been gifted to her by her
extensively analyzed and (more or less) compared by artists husband before her performance in “La Gioconda” and had
and scholars with the objective to define analogies between always a place in her dressing room ever since. The personal
them, considering a variety of elements such as pitch and level also encompasses the dual role that some artists may
hue, colors and shapes, recurring patterns and so on. It is have, creating (or performing) both music and visual works
worth noting that such analogies have also been pursued of art (as was the case of Matisse).
by artists with synesthesia (e.g., seeing colors when hearing Finally, the contextual level of the proposed model
sounds or listening to music, as Wassily Kandinsky did), includes all aspects that may have an impact or influence
often actively exploring the cooperation of the senses on the artists’ intellect, attitudes, and works, including
within their artistic processes and works. time, place, social surroundings, as well as historical
The representational level includes semantic figures, events, etc. In this level, we particularly highlight
connections between the two forms of art based on the Artistic movements, which, although typically defined in
semantics of their content. For instance, the painting titled the context of one form of art (e.g., in painting), often have a
“The Music Lesson” by Henri Matisse (Figure 3) bears notable impact on multiple arts (ranging from architecture
multiple connections to music on this level: it depicts a to literature or music). For instance, painter Diego
piano, as well as violin, and a music sheet with the name Velázquez and composer Domenico Scarlatti are both
of the music composer HAYDN on top of the piano, connected to the Baroque style, so we decided to reflect this
while the word “music” is included in the painting’s title. indirect connection by accompanying the viewing of “Las
Furthermore, considering that this painting is a family Meninas” (Figure 3) to the listening of “Sonata in D minor
portrait and Matisse was a violinist himself, one may K. 9.” In this case, the two pieces of art may not be directly
suggest that this artwork is also connected to music on a connected, yet they provide tangible examples of Baroque’s
personal level. imprint on painting and music, offered in a combined way.
The personal level focuses on the creators of the artworks We suggest that such connections may contribute a more
and may include a wide variety of relations between them, holistic perspective on art movements and their wider
from admiration of one artist to another to personal influence on the artistic circles of each time period.
relationships developed through their joint work or social In the same line, we also wish to stress the role
life (i.e., collaborations, conflicts, friendships, and so on). important historical figures may have over not only

Figure 3. Artwork Cards depicting some of the paintings referenced inline, as used in the scope of the user study: a) Las Meninas, Diego Velázquez, 1656,
b) The Music Lesson, Henri Matisse, 1917, c) Napoleon Crossing the Alps, Jacques-Louis David, 1801. Image created by authors

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 6 doi: 10.36922/ac.2367