Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-08
All Tones From the Piano or VioIin Haze
an ExadAGInity in the PrIsmatic Scale,
Says the SqUedish artist, KnutLmdstrom,
as He Shoes Paris Examples ofArt
Inspired by Great Music Masters.

angle the greater the ACTIVITY. Two curved
lines indicate movement and one straight line
and one curved line give more activity than two
straight lines forming small angle. Two
straight lines crossed by q curved line Is q
St1n stronger effect and so on So you see how
the idea of rhythm, Of movement, is carried
out. It doesn't take q very keen mind to grasp
this when he or she studies my painting"
To make one Of his pictorial symphonies, Mr..
LundStrom goes to q concert and listens m
tently to the rendition. Although he hears the
selection music, of course, his senses also
interpret the same harmonies to him in terms
Of color, rhythm and form, an experience that
happens to many persons.
livery single instrument having for him a
precise affinity, the addition becomes mag
nifcent kaleidoscope of flashing colors. The
azure-blue flute, the green oboes, the Van Dyck
red clarinets, the golden-yellow French horn the
purplsh-red trumpets and trombones and the
violins, sweeping through the whole gamut Of
shades, mingle like q riotous sunset, some fad
ing out for a moment, new tints swelling up,
all jostling and juggling with one another. In
cidentalIy he disagrees with Prof. Lavignac
about the color Of the flute and the oboe. He
considers the first a clear cold green and the
second warm blue.
While still under the fascination of this men
tai picture, Mr.. LundStrom begins to sketch
the music and then huTrieS back to his studio
and puts It canvas, often working all night
long to I'LL in the tints while they are stll
fresh in his mind.
ST would find It very difacult 70 explain my
paintings in great detail" Mr. LundStrom said,
because they take form and color I'm my
thought when am inspired by a fine piece Of
music.
eff you wish a simple explanation, take my
painting of DebuSSy'S 'ApreS-midi dun Faune.'
tn eff with has hnOin no
long wavy line at the top, cut by another wavy
line, Is my conception Of the rhythm Of the
piece The broad waving lines at the right and
lower center, in bright green, represent the
movement, and specifically creScendo of harpS
and violins. Some bright green dots in the
center are the flutes; some red dots are the
oboes. The pink scroll just above them Is q
ripple OF obOeS and clarinetS. Three wavy lines
at the upper left are the high and low violins.
Four horizontal lines In the upper right-hand
corner are violins; the short strokes below them
are the bass violins. other dots, strokes and
eriss-crosses around the edges are braSseS, tim
balls, drums. a..
Being an entirely new art, the forms Of ex-
preston naturally seem very bafiing at first
but after q little study they become limpidly
clear"
Prof. Lavignac says in his book 1.-THE paint
erS often use this meaphor-the ganlut Of colors
to which the musicians can compare their own,
not less true: the coloring Of the orchestra.
eve have all heard the story of q man blind
from birth, to whom friend tried to explain
what red looked like. Tt IS he explained 'vio-
lent, brilliant, fatigning and superb, though
sometimes brutal; it kills all the ether colors
around it. All, understand at last ex-
claimed the blind man, the red color must be
Like the sound Of q trumpet
'It r. not unreasonable to say that he was
absolutely correct and that every musical in
Strument has its own particular color that We
can define as its character, remembering, how
ever, that this assimilation can vary from one
observer to another, perhaps because Of differ
emit conformation Of the ear and eye. In this
divergence Of appreciation exists the only real
dafnculty in the demonstration am trying to
make here.
"EoR ME. as for others, the ethereal, trans
parent suaye tinhre Of the flute, with its
poetic charm and its placidity, produces an
auditive sensation analogous to the visual i'm
preston Of the color blue, of . rare beautiful
blue. like the azure Of the sky.
The Oboe so suitable for the expression Of
wild and rustic sentiments seems to me to be
absolutely green, green that Is little raw.
"The warm sound of the clarinet, at the
same time rough and velvety, somber but rich,
calls up the idea of reddish brown of Van
Dyck red, of garnet.
'The French horn is yellow, a beautiful brassy
yellow, and the poor English horn, so melan-
choly corresponds to violet it can only express
mourning, sadness and resignation.
''The family of bugles, trumpets and from
bones give all the gradations of purplish red:
mixed with the French horns they give orange
while the cornet, vain and trivial, brings note
Of common red, life beef red.
THE baSsoon, sad, Somber and painful with
It's suffering timbre and so timid and without
ordnance, Is certainly dirty dark brown.
mixed with gray.
THE percussion instruments kettledrunns and
bass drums. represent big black holes The roll.
Ing OK drum is grayish and the triangle Is
silver gray" t',r" 1859
7~'> - lCopyright, 1917 '.' y 50 -