Songs About Famous Painters....

I'm interested in songs about famous master painters...

Perhaps one of my favorites, maybe because I heard it quite a bit as a child, is Don McLean's
ode to Vincent Van Gogh. Quite a beautiful song in a meloncholy way.

 

One that comes to mind immediately for me is "Salvador" by Sara Hickman. A beautiful song.



Of course, it's hard to think about songs about painters without Sunday in the Park with George coming to mind. An entire musical about Georges Seurat.

 

"Picasso's Last Words" by Wings
"Pablo Picasso" by The Modern Lovers

 

"Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War" by Paul Simon

 

Art Class (Song For Yayoi Kusama)
Superchunk

 

Interiors (Song for Willem De Kooning) by the Manic Street Preachers.

Andy Warhol by David Bowie.

Alan Bean by Hefner.

 

Pick a painter:

 

Beach Boys - The Old Master Painter (doesn't say which one though!)

 

Jonathan Richman - Pablo Picasso
Jonathan Richman - Vicnent Van Gogh
Jonathan Richman - No one was like Vermeer
Jonathan Richman - Salvador Dali

 

Art for art's sake:

 

Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs by Brian and Michael, it's about the British painter L S Lowry. bit of a one-hit wonder but it was a popular song about a very popular painter,

 

They Might Be Giants: Meet James Ensor ("... Belgium's famous painter...")

 

Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a nice tribute to an often overlooked artist who perhaps never achieved worldwide fame but certainly was well regarded regionally and by those in the know.

 

Not so much about a painter but about a painting so stretching OP query a bit.

 

Not explicitly about a painter, but the Scott Walker album Bish Bosch name checks Hieronymus Bosch and many of the tracks have a feel that evokes his paintings.

 

Sorry about the ad.

 

According to the original lyrics it was "the one from the faraway hills, painted the violets and the daffodils..."

 

Picasso's Mandolin by Guy Clark

 

When I Paint My Masterpiece by Bob Dylan. You can't deny he is a famous painter also. From the covers of Self Portrait and Music From Big Pink to his exhibitions a few years ago. At least he is famous and he is a painter.

 

Tom Waits' Nighthawks at the Diner takes its title, cover, and perhaps some of the lyrics from the similarly-titled Edward Hopper painting.

 

King Crimson, "The Night Watch" (though it's more about the world evoked by the famous Rembrandt painting than the artist himself, but may still be relevant).

Tears For Fears, "Sketches of Pain" is about Goya.

Yes's "Turn of the Century" is ostensibly about a sculptor named "Roan," but it's clearly meant to evoke Rodin.

Bryan Ferry's Bride Stripped Bare album title is a reference to the famous Large Glass of Marcel Duchamp, but I don;t recall an obvious lyrical reference in any of the actual songs. Likewise, his Olympia is a reference to the painting of the same title by Manet, but there is no obvious lyrical connection even in the title track aside from references to prostitution. Roxy Music's "Triptych" evokes late medieval triptychs generally, but I'm not sure there's a clear reference to any specific artist.