This is the last great painting of The Four Seasons, that I started in March of 2012. When finished this series will consist of be thirteen paintings in all. You can see the previous Vivaldi Four Seasons works at this Page. You can tell by the enlargement, of this first image, that this is a large painting. It consists of eight canvas panels each thirty inches by thirty inches, for a total length of twenty-feet. This is certainly the longest work of the Vivaldi series, and very near being the largest in the group. The length of this work quickly adds up when you consider that the 64 painted strips, in this first image, total 1,280 feet of paint.
Here is a good orchestra version of this 3rd Movement from Summer. What you will see in the painting is from the 24th second to the 32nd second of this music.
I have a David Garrett version that is a favorite of mine, but could not find it on YouTube. Here is another YouTube version by him:
This third movement is nickname The Storm, so it is a bad weather related image I see. I picked those 8 seconds from the music because you can hear and feel the driving rain and hall. The words I have chosen from the Summer Sonnet are from the line: Thunder and lighting split the Heavens, and hail-stones.
Obviously, I expect to be using a lot of dark colors, mostly blues, maybe with some dark greens, along with a lot of different splashes of bright colors to increase the drama and movement in the work. You can see some beginnings of this sense of movement by looking into these two wide strips at the random shades of blue.
All eight canvases are of the same size, with each representing, in musical terms one measure. By being connected at various heights they follow the up and down of he music, which adds to the sense of movement.
This work along with the other twelve canvas will eventually be sold as one. As I have mentioned in the past, I do not want these works split up. I do not expect, except on rare occasions, that I will ever see all thirteen artworks on display together. I do see them being shown, by the season they represent in smaller groups of three, with Summer having four works. Whoever purchases these works, I am certain will be strongly connected to all of them. I can say this from what I have learned by the reactions from the patrons of this art.
These are people with money in the game, and so I know they are being honest. I have been constantly surprised by the bond that forms between the artwork and the owner. I cannot explain it. I do not understand it. But it is there.
What I do know is that even though I put everything I have into creating these works, that in itself appears to have little to do with how others react to them. They see something else in their artwork that becomes important for them. They do not visualize whatever I did to create them, or my reasoning behind the works creation. They do form a special attachment to their artwork. And that I do understand. In whatever shape that bond is, I too have it.
For me it is that mysterious something, that captivates, and pushes me to see, to know, and to find out how far this art can go. In short it is that something that is unknown, not only for me, but for those that own these works, that brings this art meaning. And for the owners of these artworks, I can only thank them, for I have consistently fallen short of understanding just what is going on. I guess, that will remain, the conundrum that so far I have no right answer. That is just fine with me. I find it fun not knowing.
Scott Von Holzen
aRT iN mUSIC 