Peggy Gyulai

My paintings are inspired by music, and it is my great joy to be able to express the resonance I feel between the arts by making paintings from something as remarkable as sound composed by another artist. I love the challenge of taking something which exists as air and emotion, and transposing some of its essential qualities into a third entity, a painting.

I can find inspiration in specific musical works, or from a general musical idea, and often create series which have a particular musical theme at the center. The way I start to compose a painting is to think about the musical sound as a kind of poetry without words, experienced over time. Then I listen and interpret both the motion and the emotion of the music. The canvas and eventually the painting itself becomes a "place" where I can create an image of my experience of that piece of music.

One of my favorite projects was a series of large paintings I made for the Philadelphia Orchestra's 100th anniversary in 2000, which were shown at the Academy of Music during concerts so the audience could see the paintings as they heard the orchestra play some of the great masterworks of the early 20th century.

Currently, I am painting a series inspired by the rich treasure of Spanish flamenco guitar music and dance, and Argentine tango-music which has at its core what the poet Garcia Lorca calls "duende"--the passionate spirit of creativity.