Tag: Bach

This is Bach 2 BWV 1065 Allegro First Final Version (87″ by 52″) completed March 5th. What you are looking at in the lower part of the image is my interpretation of a musical tie.  A musical tie is a curved line that connects two notes of the same pitch, that extends the length of the first note, with the added value of the second note. For me a Tie is an opportunity to add interest and drama to the artwork. Ties, slurs, trills, and incidentals, are important to me, for they add that extra character to a painting which would be difficult if  I only used notes, stems, flags and beams,  the fundamental parts of sheet music.  Since the last thing this art want to do is duplicate sheet music, ties and slurs become powerful creative tools, as you see in the above and below images.

After checking and comparing multiple translations I came up with the above Japanese alphabet for the words, Johann Sebastian Bach, that represented my vision of this interesting Tie.  My thinking was that putting the composer’s name in Japanese, would be a tribute to the client.  I thought this would show respect and consideration for the clients native  written language, which I thought beautiful.  The composer’s name, in Japanese, also would add value and interest to the painting’s content, for me in an abstract way.  Instead the response  was since Bach was European, the client  did not associate his music with Japanese letters, or their point of view.  According to their representative the client adores the Western Culture, and so they requested that I change the lettering to English. Since time was short the representative said if it was not possible to make this change she would tell them so.  Actually, their reasoning was convincing, and I felt it was important to complete this work to the client’s satisfaction.This lead to four hours of work to replace the Japanese words with English version of Johann Sebastian Bach. To give the words some extra drama, I found a great free font, Baroque Script to use as my template.  Interesting Bach composed his music during the Baroque Era.

What you see in the above image is the final, final version of Bach 2 BWV 1065 Allegro completed about 9:30pm on March 6th.
That evening after running the fan, I removed the canvas from its temporary frame and laid it gently on the floor, even though I had not heard back with the go ahead and ship. Very early the next morning I checked my email and there was a short message thanking me and asking that it be shipped out. My wife and I rolled the artwork carefully,  with added protection, around a large tube.  Later that morning Barbara took the painting to shipper, and now Bach 2 is sitting in a DHL Hub in Ohio, on its way to Tokyo.  How cool is that.

All I know is that this painting will be hung behind the front desk at a new Hotel, set to open on the 15th of March.  So, once the work safely reaches Japan, and all is well with it, and it gets through customs, it will be re-stretched, before it makes it way to its final home.  I did not ask the name of the new Hotel, because I did not want that information to had any effect on my vision of this second Bach work.  Now, that it is on its way to a new home, I have asked for a picture, and the Hotels name. If I get that answer I will pass it along.

As for Bach 1, Bach 2 sister work both completed on the same frame, and my favorite of the two,  it is hanging pinned to my studio wall.  I will order a frame for this work and put it up for sale on Etsy in the future.

Next up another commission of a University Fight Song.  Should be interesting.

Scott Von Holzen