Adapting Gershwin Into Painting: A Case Study

Abstract

Recent thinking in empirical studies of the arts has emphasized the role of knowledge about historical context and artistic intentions in our appreciation of artworks (Bullot & Reber, 2013; Jucker, Barrett, & Wlodarski, 2014). In the present article, I explore this idea in the domain of artistic production by examining the extent to which knowledge about George Gershwin's composition Rhapsody in Blue affected my adaptation of the music into visual representations thereof in the form of paintings. The study consists of two phases. In the first phase, I painted Rhapsody in Blue without knowledge about Gershwin or his composition. In contrast, in the second phase, Rhapsody in Blue was adapted into painting after careful examination of Gershwin's life and his composition. There were noticeable differences in terms of colors and forms when comparing the paintings made in the two phases. This case study suggests that background knowledge about a musical piece affects one's visual representations of its content.