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. Laura Hoffman, Manager of K–12 Digital & Educator Initiatives, created this playlist in response to Adolph Gottlieb’s “Labyrinth #1.”

Adolph Gottlieb, Labyrinth #1, 1950, Oil and sand on canvas, 36 x 48 in., Collection of the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation, New York © Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

The theme of my playlist is eclecticism to reflect the wide range of symbols and techniques employed in Adolph Gottlieb’s Labyrinth #1. Gottlieb once remarked, “The surprise in a painting is not the surprise of discovering some kind of a story or myth, it’s the surprise of finding a clear statement about something that you felt and then to see it, to see this feeling become materialized in paint, then it really exists.” My inspiration drew from delving into the terms “labyrinth,” “alchemy,” “pictograph,” and “symbol”; looking at what music was playing at the time of this painting in 1950; and music-based mash-ups. I would recommend playing this on shuffle to reflect the surprise Gottlieb describes.

Laura Hoffman, Manager of K–12 Digital & Educator Initiatives

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.