Play it Again: An Expression of Music in Fine Art

“Life without music would be a mistake” – Nietzsche          
                                                                                                                                                                                

A wide variety of cultures preserve old rituals, create new traditions, and celebrate momentum throughout the various arts. Music, like fine art, is indeed about connecting people. Pure sweet melodies and meaningful ballads, humans through history share their personal stories, religious narratives, and fictional odysseys for entertainment or communication. Sometimes inspired by music or being the inspiration for fine art often expresses a lyrical quality, as seen in the works of Yoel Benharrouche, Calman Shemi, and so many more.  

Explore Eden Gallery’s Music Collection here.
 

David Kracov

“I absolutely love musical instruments. Mostly hand-crafted instruments created by old-world artisans, where the craft is as beautiful as the music that is projected from the instruments they create. I am fascinated with guitars, mainly because no matter how many lessons I have attempted to endure, I cannot play. The form of a guitar, no matter the shape, is one of beauty, and they always appear as blank canvases that need color.”
 

David Kracovs fascination of music stems from musical notes, beautiful melodies, song lyrics, and the instruments themselves. His straightforward references are easily relatable and understood by all audiences, young and old. Some works are in the forms of composers waving their hands with colorful notes spilling down, the word ‘MUSIC’ made out of treble clefs and semiquavers, or the shape of a guitar made out of his signature magical fluttering butterflies. All have the uniquely colorful and painterly style of Kracov himself. 

David Kracovs uniquely imaginative eye rediscovers music in its visual forms. Explore his full collection of free-standing sculptures, wall-sculptures, and shadow boxes here.
 

Yoel Benharrouche

“My paintings are always about life but not a superficial view I try to go inside. My paintings are different graduations of my soul, you have the first vision, and after you read a message, you can go deep and connect to my feelings. Then you understand on, a very deep, almost intuitive level, what I am trying to say with my work.”

“Art is the melody of my love. “

Art and music are languages that cross all boundaries of culture, speech, and religion. Music in fine art acts as an intermediary between spiritual and corporeal life, music indeed can have an impact on the way in which we perceive our spiritual connections. Meditative verses and soft tones can bring us into a state of self-reflection and contemplation. Benharrouche paints with a musical quality. His rhythmic brushstrokes are emotional and expressive. Using instruments bonded to the human body in a Pacassoesque manner, he brings the human form even closer to the divine. 
 

Through the use of music in its visual representation Benharrouche creates an artwork more relatable and engaging to his audience. In viewing his works, there is a deep intuition that one can feel—a connection to others through his use of music and a connection to our own souls. View Yoel Benhourrache’s musical masterpieces here.

Calman Shemi

Calman Shemi’s art is full of references to his love of Jazz music, and paintings such as New Orleans Jazz read as bold, colorful homages to the sounds that continue to inspire him, and to the musicians whom he holds in such high esteem. Shemi’s artistic view of the world he inhabits has forced him to continually challenge himself and develop his methods. The culmination of this being two new painting techniques he has pioneered, which he has coined ‘lacquer painting’ and ‘window painting.’

His methods and ideologies seem to mirror Jazz music’s defiance of convention and lack of traditional rules, and there is a harmony between these two different disciplines that bonds them. One can imagine the climbing scales and unexpected key changes that Shemi may have been listening to while painting such works. While his art is often, clearly about repetition, it also highlights the differences created by the use of the human hand, a sentiment that is also expressed in this style of music.
 

In many of his artworks, including ‘New Orleans Jazz,’ and others with clear associations to music like ‘Silver Notes – Nashville Country,’ the layer that provides a backdrop to Shemi’s build-up of painterly marks can be seen to be a series of consecutive lines, which almost resemble a neck of a guitar. These straight lines, which stretch the length of these oblong paintings, prompt the onlooker to read the art in a certain way. We view it as a progression, we start at the left and work our way to the end. This engages us with the art and provides us with a satisfying experience. Explore his musical masterpieces in Eden’s new online shop here.

Dorit Levinstein

Dorit Levinstein takes inspiration for many of her works from an interest and appreciation for classical painters. She began her career studying traditional art techniques and still considers herself a painter at heart. Despite primarily now producing sculptures, her classically trained eye is still very prevalent in her work.

The inspiration for this particular piece, Renoir Dancers, comes from Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s ‘Dance at Bougival.’ Through the singular twisting line of the sculpture, you can see the bodies moving in unison to an unknown song. The rhythm and movement created by this line intensifies the energy between the characters. The bright patterns speak to this unknown song making the viewer feel the emotions of the music through the dance. Simultaneously perceiving the color as if it is the music itself. 
 

Enjoy Dorit Levinstein’s vivid collection of figures dancing in space here.
 

Romero Britto

Many aspects of Dorit Levinstein’s approach has similarities to the work of Romero Brito. However, his execution differs, most notably by his choice of medium. His sculpture Star Night, for example, addresses similar themes to Renoir Dancers, as it portrays a similar scenario – two people immersed in a heartfelt sway.
 

A self-taught artist, Romero Britto, has gained international fame with his vivid and optimistic paintings and sculptures. Exuding color and joy through crazy patterns and lively subjects, the audience connects to their inner youthful spirit when interacting with Britto’s art. Full of romantic undertones and nostalgia Britto’s art harks back to moments of passion and new love. These themes manifest themselves overtly in his original artworks. 

Britto utilizes his stylized approach to composition in this work, displaying twisting beams of stripes and colors enveloping his characters, while they are engaged in a romantic moment of a dance. These remarkable patterns are repeated in the mixture of designs we can see on the female figure’s outfit, merging the landscape and the foreground into one bold gesture. The artist has included musical notes within these structures, suggesting that they perhaps symbolize the music they have been dancing to, or maybe, more literally, the background could be an abstraction of sheet music, up for the viewer to interpret. 

See more of Romero Britto’s artworks here.
 

Music in Fine Art

An expression of music does not come in through only the sense of hearing, but it is an ever encompassing feeling of passion, joy, inspiration, or divine connection. Fine art often draws inspiration and knowledge from the discipline of music, and vice versa allowed both to grow and expand in unison. Sometimes we can hear the physical beauty of the notes, and other times we can see the notes creating an exquisite sound. That is the amazement of the arts as they titillate our senses and encompass all of our emotions, inspiring us not just in with visual appeal, but with the sensations left by a meaningful artwork.  Explore the Music Collection here!

THE MUSIC COLLECTION

Feature image courtesy of Korin Avraham of @yasalamfashionblog