Music in Art & Art in Music
September 26 - October 10
10.45 – 12.45 and 14.00 – 16.00 Thursdays
£154.00 – £402.00
Description
This series of study days will examine the relationship between music and painting during three contrasting eras: Dutch Baroque 1600-1700, English Classicism 1750-1810, and Romanticism, Impressionism and Expressionism 1800-1920. The first day discusses symbolism in the musical paintings of the Dutch masters who painted the mercantile classes making music. Day 2 examines the wide range of composers and musicians featured in the paintings of Thomas Gainsborough and Johan Zoffany. The last day focuses on the ability of music to inspire art and art to inspire music. This covers a period of 100 years from the start of the 19th century and covers the works of Chopin, James Whistler, Arnold Böcklin, Arnold Schoenberg and Rachmaninov.
”An exceptionally well-structured course with excellent slides that facilitated side-by-side comparisons. Very thought-provoking.”
Course Outline
26 Sep 2024 – Behind Closed Doors: Music in the paintings of Vermeer and C17th Dutch masters.
10.45-12.45
14.00–16.00
Ten percent of all paintings from the Golden Age of Dutch Art contain scenes showing amateur musicians making music together. This study day explores and analyses paintings by Honthorst, Hals, Steen, de Hooch and particularly Johannes Vermeer.
03 Oct 2024 – Gainsborugh, Zoffany & The Musical Conversation Piece: English music & art in the late Georgian period.
10.45-12.45
14.00–16.00
The paintings of Gainsborough and Zoffany, showing composers, performers and amateur musicians, reveal how important music was to the English in the second half of the C18th. These lectures explore a wide range of those musical paintings and at the same time research the musical conversation piece.
10 Oct 2024 – Paintings Inspired by Music & Music Inspired by Paintings: The interaction of music & art in the C19th and early C20th.
10.45-12.45
14.00–16.00
The C19th saw a new phenomenon in the world of the arts, which was the ability of music to inspire paintings and paintings to inspire works of art. The last of our study days focuses – among other things – on the musical and visual Nocturne, impressionism in the music of Debussy, and German expressionism in the works of Arnold Schoenberg and Wassily Kandinsky.