“Art is not an end in itself, but a means of addressing humanity.”
Modest Mussorgsky
As philosopher Richard Wollheim says, art is “one of the most elusive of the traditional problems of human culture.” In its simplest manifestation, art is a form of communication that serves as a vehicle for the expression of emotions and ideas. As ideas and beliefs are culturally specific and constantly changing over time, there really is no generally agreed definition of what constitutes art. That being said, the classical branches of the visual arts are identified as painting, sculpture and architecture. Literature and poetry are considered part of the humanities or as one of the arts, while music, alongside theatre, film and dance belong to the performing arts. In this section you will discover not only specific explorations of individual art forms, but also a more detailed probing of the relationship between the visual arts and music, including painting and music, sculpture and music and architecture and music. Originally, poetry and music were treated as a unity, but gradually they have become more independent. Nevertheless, the two art forms have never forgotten their shared genetic makeup, and been intertwined for millennia. Art and music have engaged in a dynamic relationship that reveals a diverse range of human activity intended to be appreciated for their beauty.
Tōru Takemitsu: Mori no naka de (In the Woods) German-born American painter Cornelia Foss (b. 1931) has works in the leading art museums in the US and specializes in paintings and portraits done around New York and Long Island. Her
The Swiss-born German artist Paul Klee (1879–1940) advanced modern art through his experiments in colour theory, and his own works show his extensive work in that direction. His first studies were in music, as his father was a music teacher
Let me tell you a big secret. Although my parents hate it, I am a great fan of Gothic movies and Gothic fiction. Sometimes it is considered a part of the broader category of horror as “it tantalizes us with
The crowd gathers in the cobbled yard, children lifted to their shoulders. They are called to the puppet theatre by the showman with the bass drum on his back. On top of the theatre appear three characters: a man in
Piet Mondrian (1872–1944) was a Dutch painter who expanded the modern abstract painter’s vocabulary by reducing his colour choices and moving to geometric elements to express his art. He is now regarded as one of the greatest artists of the
When you think of a piano, you think of it closed – a big black box. Sits in the corner. Its colour is only revealed when you uncover the keyboard, and the contrast of the white and black keys is
Franz Liszt: Hunnenschlacht When the newly constructed “Neues Museum” (New Museum) in Berlin was looking for frescoes to illustrate the history of mankind, they turned to the painter and muralist Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1805-1874). Kaulbach had made a name for
Ludwig I, king of Bavaria from 1825 until 1848, was primarily known for his enthusiasm for the arts and women. As a crown prince he collected German and Dutch painting, masterpieces of the Italian renaissance, and contemporary art for his
