Westport Public Library MOVIE & MUSIC Blog

One of the joys of doing research is the unexpected discovery of a unique book that is completely different from the task at hand. This "eureka" moment occurred last night with the book Great Composers, Great Artists: Portraits written appropriately by art historian, Steward Buettner and music historian, Reinhard G. Pauly.

Although the relationship between music and the arts has been frequently analyzed and studied, a book depicting portraits of composers by famous artists has not. This collection is arranged chronologically from Martin Luther to John Cage by artists from Lucas Cranach the Elder to Walter De Maria. Biographical discussion and exploration of the composer, the artist, their collaboration, and the time period are followed by the actual image. These reproductions may be drawings, paintings, sculptures or sketches. Admiration for Niccolo Paganini's concerts by Eugene Delacroix, mutual respect exhibited by Richard Strauss and Max Liebermann, solid friendships like Emmanuel Chabrier and Edouard Manet, as well as working relationships like Erik Satie and Pablo Picasso are noted by the authors. Whimisical caricatures by Honore Daumier of Rossini, Berlioz, and Wagner and Jean Cocteau of Francis Poulenc are also included. Walter De Maria's Statue of John Cage is a fitting tribute to this composer who valued structure, choice and freedom.

Arnold Schoenberg, who worked as both a composer and a painter, aptly put his two passions as "a way of expressing myself, of presenting emotions, ideas".