The musical and visual arts have always gone hand in hand, particularly in the way that each medium inspires the other. Chopin wrote nocturnes; Whistler painted them. Kandinsky created symphonies with color, and Debussy used notes to create two sets of tone pictures for the piano, appropriately titled Images. Both music and the visual arts have a dual nature: there are technical and theoretical aspects to both, but at the same time, they can be evocative and emotional.
It is no wonder then that visual artists take inspiration from music, or that they might try their hands at the musical arts—particularly the piano, which provides challenge and delight to both the novice and the professional.
As the 300th anniversary of its invention is celebrated, the piano still remains one of the most popular instruments today. This exhibition was prepared to compliment the Smithsonian Institution’s exhibition Piano 300: Celebrating Three Centuries of People and Pianos, at the International Gallery of the S. Dillon Ripley Center.