When I first saw these two paintings, Eli was with me. He made an interesting distinction between the two works.
The painting on the left looks more “proper” from a musical perspective. There are visible notes on the sheet music and the man in the painting is playing a D Major chord on his guitar.
The second painting is much more abstract. You can not see the notes or which chord is being played. However, Eli pointed out the man’s face and posture. He said that he appears much more like he is actually playing music, while the other painting looks fake. Eli attributes this to the fact that the painter of the second painting was also a musician. He was able to more accurately capture what it looked like to play music than somebody else.
Intriguing, no?
