Painting Sound: The Intersection of Art and Music

Register for this Fall 2022 course on the new NYU SPS Academy of Lifelong Learning website.
Registration for this course will end on Tuesday, September 27 at 11:59pm EDT to allow time for processing COVID-related requirements. If you want to register after this date, please contact the academic department at sps.all@nyu.edu to determine if an exception can be made.
Many visual artists found significant inspiration in music. Art critic Walter Pater went as far as claiming that “All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music.” Examples abound. In 1911, Wassily Kandinsky struck a friendship with composer Arnold Schoenberg, and soon thereafter incorporated principles of Many visual artists found significant inspiration in music. Art critic Walter Pater went as far as claiming that “All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music.” Examples abound. In 1911, Wassily Kandinsky struck a friendship with composer Arnold Schoenberg, and soon thereafter incorporated principles of atonal music into his abstract compositions, creating works described by one art critic as “pure visual music.” In the early 1950’s, Jackson Pollock-flowing improvisational technique was often likened to Bebop jazz, and Willem de Kooning, another Jazz aficionado, once wrote: “Miles Davis bends the notes. He doesn’t play them, he bends them. I bend the paint.” This course presents a multifaceted exploration of the creative dialogue between art and music. We will examine interconnected, well-known art works and musical compositions from the Romantic era to modern times to highlight the complex relationship between these prominent branches of creative expression. Among the paired artists and composers are Delacroix/Chopin; Monet/Debussy; Picasso/Stravinsky; Mondrian/Jazz; Rauschenberg/Cage; and Rothko/Feldman. Additional attention will be given to musical works created by visual artists, including Marcel Duchamp’s Musical Erratum, Yves Klein’s Monotone Silence Symphony, Yoko Ono’s Voice Piece for Soprano, and Jennie C. Jones’s Slowly in a Silent Way, Caged. Questions? Contact us at The Center for Applied Liberal Arts (CALA). Email sps.cala@nyu.edu or call 212-998-7289. Fall 2022 tuition is $719.

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