Tuesday Tunes: A Playlist for Mark Tobey

Taking inspiration from the major theme of music in Ten Americans: After Paul Klee, we paired 11 staff members with 11 works from the exhibition and asked them to respond to create a playlist in response to their individual artwork. Caitlin Meredith, Phillips Music Coordinator  created this playlist in response to Mark Tobey’s “Night Flight.”

Mark Tobey, Night Flight, 1956, Tempera on cardboard, 11 7/8 x 9 in., Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/Basel, Beyeler Collection © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

As I studied Night Flight by Mark Tobey, I saw many repetitive strokes and lines, that once repeated, began to morph into different shapes. This visual aspect is akin to the fugue, a compositional technique in which a melodic line is introduced and repeated by different voices, at which point the interwoven voices begin to develop into something new. For my playlist, I have chosen four pieces that have prominent examples of fugue-like material: two pieces by the king of the fugue, J.S. Bach, and two by more contemporary artists Sylvan Esso and Bon Iver. I hope as you listen you may be able to hear and visualize the repetitive fugue-like sonorities.

Caitlin Meredith, Phillips Music Coordinator 

Feeling inspired? Create your own playlist based around works in the exhibition and send it to us at communications@phillipscollection.org and we may feature it on our blog and social media.

Tuesday Tunes: A Playlist for Kenneth Noland

Taking inspiration from the major theme of music in Ten Americans: After Paul Klee, we paired 11 staff members with 11 works from the exhibition and asked them to respond to create a playlist in response to their individual artwork. Mika Rautiainen, IT Support Specialist, created this playlist in response to Kenneth Noland’s “In the Garden.”

Kenneth Noland, In the Garden, 1952. Oil on hardboard, 19 1/2 x 30 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1952 © Estate of Kenneth Noland/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

My playlist for Kenneth Noland’s In the Garden is fairly short—it’s the EP to the everyone else’s LP, so to speak. I went with my gut, and while some of the songs have more clear word association with the painting, I didn’t particularly look for one, nor did I look for songs of the painting’s time period.

The first three songs came to me immediately—they are what I imagine to be playing inside the painting, eerie yet fairly mellow. The last two songs popped into my mind the second time I looked at it in detail. Why grunge? I don’t know, I’m not really even that big of a fan. I suppose it’s something about the painting’s color and shapes that just scream early ’90s to me.

Mika Rautiainen, IT Support Specialist

Feeling inspired? Create your own playlist based around works in the exhibition and send it to us at communications@phillipscollection.org and we may feature it on our blog and social media.

Tuesday Tunes: A Playlist for Jackson Pollock

Taking inspiration from the major theme of music in Ten Americans: After Paul Klee, we paired 11 staff members with 11 works from the exhibition and asked them to create a playlist in response to their individual artwork. Miriam Deaver, Manager of School and Outreach Programs created this playlist in response to Jackson Pollock’s “Untitled (Page from a Lost Sketchbook).”

Jackson Pollock, Untitled (Page from a Lost Sketchbook), c. 1939–42, Brush and India ink on paper, 17 1/2 x 14 in., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Lee Krasner Pollock, 1982 © Pollock-Krasner Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

As with most works by Jackson Pollock, the emphasis for me is the feeling his work evokes from the viewer. Devoid of color, yet acutely expressive, Untitled (Page from a Lost Sketchbook) conveys aggression, disconnection, and movement. Its raw quality emphasizes the hand of the artist, thus Pollock is also present in this playlist at times—he was here, and he left a legacy. Enjoy!

Miriam Deaver, Manager of School and Outreach Programs

Feeling inspired? Create your own playlist based around works in the exhibition and send it to us at communications@phillipscollection.org and we may feature it on our blog and social media.