Painting by Bob Dylan (I can’t find a title for this one). Thank you to Scott Warmuth for pointing this out on this post from April, 2024 —
https://x.com/scottwarmuth1/status/1781077883986796921?t=IhaJa5QkPdcnqr3VWD9chQ&s=19
— You can find Scott over on Instagram where he regularly posts many interesting Bob Dylan related findings
https://www.instagram.com/scottwarmuth/
Also, thank you to Derya Ataker for the original photograph of the painting here which Scott replied to. I can’t seem to to find any other photographs or references to this painting. I came across this image of the painting whilst on the look out for the source of another painting by Bob Dylan — I will maybe post about that soon — I have a couple of other films that I will watch in relation to this.
Has anyone reading this seen this painting anywhere else, at any of the Bob Dylan exhibitions over the last few years?
Here is the scene from the film that Bob Dylan’s painting is based on —
“The secret of love is greater than the secret of death” — The words spoken at the point in the scene that the painting is based on — by Peggy Ann Garner’s character Nancy "Nanny" Ordway, who is a writer in the film.
The line “The mystery of love is greater than the mystery of death.” Is by Oscar Wilde, in Salomé — Written originally in French in 1892, Wilde's one-act tragedy Salomé was translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas, inspired some of Aubrey Beardsley's finest illustrations (long available in a Dover edition), and served as the text (in abridged form) for Strauss' renowned opera of the same name. The play's haunting poetic imagery, biblical cadences, and febrile atmosphere have earned it a reputation as a masterpiece of the Aesthetic movement of fin de siècle England.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/67762.Salom_
In February of 1893, a British magazine commissioned Beardsley to create a single drawing based on the original French publication of Salomé. But the gorgeously grotesque piece he submitted — Salomé reveling in the severed head of John the Baptist — was too daring and the magazine rejected it. In April, a new art publication included the drawing in its inaugural issue and it made its way to Wilde, who was so taken with it that he offered Beardsley a contract for ten full-page illustrations and a cover design for the English edition. Beardsley was twenty-one and Wilde, whom he had met three years earlier at an artist’s studio, thirty-eight.
https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/01/25/aubrey-beardsley-oscar-wilde-salome/
.. Looking into this further, I have just realised that the music playing during this scene is from Dance of the Seven Veils from Salomé by Richard Strauss —
Salome, Op. 54, is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss. The libretto is Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of the 1893 French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde, edited by the composer.
— I was wondering why the other character in the scene, Peter Denver played by Van Heflin, seemed to be translating an Oscar Wilde line that he wrote in French into German .. but now it makes sense..
The line that Peter Denver says after this .. ‘You’re right of course, always shoot for the moon’ .. seems to be a nod to the line that appears to be often attributed to Oscar Wilde — ‘Shoot for the moon.. if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars’
Peter Denver here is responding to Nancy Ordway’s line — “That’s it. That’s the goal to try for—Death and grandeur”
These two lines together reminded me of Bob Dylan’s line —
“For man has invented his doom… First step was touching the moon”
License to Kill. Infidels.
—
Another moon related Bob Dylan line that I posted somewhere last night —
“Now there's smoke on the water and it's been there since June. Tree trunks uprooted and there's blood on the moon.”
Man in the Long Black Coat. Oh Mercy.
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Slightly related to this — Over the last few years I have been on the look out of paintings by Bob Dylan with the moon in them — I have yet to come across one. Well, there was one — but it isn’t quite The Moon:
There is another painting titled ‘Staring at the Moon’ from 2017 — based on a scene from Rain Man. Dustin Hoffman’s character in a car staring up into the sky — there is no sign of the moon in the film or in the painting. Well, maybe moonlight — but not the Moon. Walking in the moonlight after dark.
I had a look for a sign of the Moon in this painting based on Black Widow, but I couldn’t see it. A few stars though.
Another part of Bob Dylan’s paintings that I like and that I find interesting are when he paints a painting on a wall within a scene from a film. The background here outside the window in the film is some kind of painted scene of the New York City sky line.
Black Widow was an early ‘Cinemascope’ film — I found this passage interesting from this piece on the film —
Early CinemaScope films required greater than usual attention to set design, choreographing camera angles and movement, and the use of color**. We get here a series of Manhattan apartments that look so spacious that only Russian oligarchs could afford them now, decorated in bland-looking creams and pastels with deft placement of Asian art. The blandness was probably to keep anything from jumping out and looking too garish. Someone said of making George Cukor’s A Star Is Born: “We damn near made a black and white movie in color.”
https://www.etiquetteer.com/this-is-robert-talking/2021/2/15/black-widow-of-1954
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Also this,
“The first big murder-mystery in CinemaScope!” “The first crime-of-passion story in CinemaScope!" Thus screamed the poster and newspaper ads heralding the 1954 release of 20th Century-Fox’s all-star, all-color, widescreen film noir, Black Widow. Well, seeing as I somehow managed to never even hear of this movie until just last year, I’m going to have to take them at their word that Black Widow represents a series of "firsts" in the annals of CinemaScope.
…
Black Widow, a murder mystery based on the novel Fatal Woman by Hugh Wheeler (of A Little Night Music and Sweeney Todd fame) was an early experiment by Fox to try out its widescreen process (with blistering color by Deluxe) on a less visual, more narrative-driven genre.
https://lecinemadreams.blogspot.com/2015/01/black-widow-1954.html
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Either way, the line “The secret of love is greater than the secret of death” — Seems to go well with the storyline of this film.
Watching this window scene again — I think the painting is from just after she says that line — a split second before it cuts to the next angle.
I notice that Bob Dylan changed the lamp… and the colour of the telephone from cream to black. More lights in the windows of the painted buildings that he’s painted — It seems like nearly all the lights are on.
I really like this scene that Bob Dylan has painted — The connections, influences — lines used to put the scene together / music and translations. In a way this reminded me slightly of Bob Dylan’s book Chronicles Volume One. The painting being a kind of silent song. His songs in some kinds of ways being musical paintings.
“I poured the cup, I passed it along, and I cross the Rubicon…”
This reminds me of something that I read a few weeks ago in a book that I picked up from the library in Seattle — On the way back from a trip seeing Bob Dylan on the Outlaw Tour (Glad to see the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour lives on and will be arriving in Europe in October and November —
)
.. The book is a book of Greek lyrics —
For about a century and a half, roughly from the middle of the seventh century B.C. to the end of the sixth, the dominant form of literature in Greece was the independent short poem. We may call them “lyrics,” though to the Greeks themselves this term would have described only those poems which were meant to be sung or chanted to the accompaniment of a lyre.
This is from the preface of the book that I just picked up from the shelf again — As a side note — Just as I read the cover of this book, by chance, as I read the word ‘Greek’ in Greek Lyrics I heard Bob Dylan sing the word ‘Greek’ though my headphones — from the song Black Diamond Bay.. which had just begun to play on YouTube.
As the mornin’ light breaks open, the Greek comes down
And he asks for a rope and a pen that will write
“Pardon, monsieur,” the desk clerk says
Carefully removes his fez
“Am I hearin’ you right?”
And as the yellow fog is liftin’
The Greek is quickly headin’ for the second floor
She passes him on the spiral staircase
Thinkin’ he’s the Soviet Ambassador
She starts to speak, but he walks away
As the storm clouds rise and the palm branches sway
On Black Diamond Bay
..
I will take this as some kind of good sign ..
Either way, the line in the book is by Simonides of Ceos —
He is thought to have lived from about 556 to about 468 B.C.
He was a widely travelled and widely known professional poet
He was one of the wisest of the early Greek poets
He wrote elegies ranging in length from the two-line epigram, to be inscribed, to extensive historical narrative in elegiac verse. He wrote both lyric monodies and large choral compositions and developed the victory ode. He is even said to have written tragedies.
Two statements about poetry are attributed to him. They probably appeared in his poems, but we have them only in paraphrase. He said,
“The word is the image of the thing.” He also said that painting is silent poetry and poetry is painting that speaks.
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Just as a final part of these notes.. I came across something that I liked whilst searching ‘Peggy Ann Garner and Bob Dylan’ … I think it may because ‘Pretty Peggy-O was mentioned somewhere else on the page — there was no mention of Peggy Ann Garner. It was a description of a Bob Dylan show from 1997. I really liked it. The Moon was mentioned. Venus. Walking into the night afterwards. I got to listening to the show and decided to set it to play on YouTube as a broadcast tonight.
Set to play at 10 PM, UK time.
I will copy the description of the show here — written back in 1997 after the show:
Subject: April 22, 1997/IUP
From: Margaret Andreas
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 1997 00:49:04 -0400
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP)
Fisher Auditorium, April 22, 1997
Sun in Taurus, Full Moon in Scorpio
(Warning: Those who are offended by astrology and mysticism need
read no further! ;-)
The full moon shown creamy yellow, like a butter mint. It's a good
thing the moon wasn't shining inside of Fisher Auditorium, because
it would have melted into a creamy yellow puddle...from the
heat...whew!
It was about 45 degrees outside and 80 degrees inside, when me and
Greg took our seats in Fisher. We had just had a nice little chat
with a bevy of RMDers on the edge of the Oak Grove, enjoying the
ambience of the evening. It was a real treat seeing you all again,
and meeting some for the first time!
The ushers (the sisters of Gamma Sigma Sigma who had donated their
services) handed us Programs (!!!) and showed us to our places.
(This was a regular concert that was part of the "Artist Series" of
IUP. Bobby McFerrin had canceled and, luckily for us, another
Bobby stepped in to fill the bill. The Program features a nice
picture of Dylan with his electric guitar, in his satin
overshirt...maybe from around the time of the RocknRoll Hall of
Fame concert. Inside is a nicely written biography and a
discography. The only problem with the biography was something that
Greg noticed--"John Baez" instead of Joan. ;-)
As the auditorium (a shabby 1940s-style theater) filled up, the
gorgeous strains of Van Morrison set the mood. (Was Bob getting
ready for his summer sojourn with the Irish R&B-Bard???)
Some of the audience were season-subscribers to the Artist Series,
many of whom must have had no idea what they were going to be hit
with! Then, there were the IUP students, many of whom had
certainly attended the historic '94 concert at the Icy Lite
Ampitheater in Pittsburgh and the smokin' '96 concert at Star Lake.
They seemed (along with the RMDers present) almost vibrating with
anticipation.
The excitement was building. Around 8 o'clock or so, there was a
clamor sent up--howling, screaming, general sighing and whirring.
It turned into a rhythmic roar of: Dy-LAN, Dy-LAN, Dy-LAN! As if
in answer, the scent of incense filled the air, a message to the
Winds, to the powers of voice, vibration and music, to be welcome,
to be free.
Abruptly, the lights dimmed. A small group of men sauntered out
onto the darkened stage. One of them is impossible to miss,
shining in his impeccably white jacket, his long legs in black with
a long white stripe up the side, his hair silver wire on fire. The
roar becomes deafening! The men seem unaffected, however. They
pick up their instruments and get themselves situated...the one in
the white jacket leans over and says something to the drummer...and
at the first beat, the stage is filled with beautiful colors! And
Dylan launches into a kick-ass version of "Absolutely Sweet Marie"!
Ah, I would like to describe the details of the music for you, but
I am too shaken by the moment! The whole downstairs of the
auditorium seems to shudder for a second and then, as one, surges
toward the stage. It's almost like a chemical reaction! For the
rest of the concert, the audience is crowded near the band--though
they never breached the stage.
The lighting and the music work well together in Fisher! This is
the first time I've heard Dylan and the band inside in a small
space like this. It is a bit overpowering for me--but I love the
soaring electric music---more like Uranus music tonight than
Mercury music! Dylan himself seems immediately energized by the
crowd; he knows they are there for him, no matter what he chooses
to do tonight. He starts, already, tearing into some hot licks and
moving in his "rocknroll spider" patterns across the stage.
Dylan's voice starts off clear; later it will become quite hoarse
and even include some "hacking." Then, toward the very end of the
concert, it will seem to reach deep inside itself and pull out some
new stronger tones...something that seems to be coming THROUGH him
when he relaxes enough to open to it. But how did he GET there?!!
The band is obviously in a transition-phase. Not everything
works..especially the stuff left-over from JJ and Winston. I miss
them both very much; however, I realize that "everything passes and
everything changes." As mentioned with other reviews, the bass (as
much as I love it, Tony!) was mixed way too high. (Except for
nate, who likes it that way.) And the way the band physically
arranged themselves on the stage seemed a bit awkward at first.
I'm not sure Bucky is very comfortable yet being out there like he
is.
On the other hand, the new mixture of musicians has great
potential, and might be jelling in a whole new way. There were
staccato moments of little "break-through's" here and there
throughout the night. There is definitely a whole new dynamic
involved here. The new drummer keeps a steady beat, though I wish
he'd be a little more experimental...and he seems to play the same
whether the songs are acoustic or electric. Larry Campbell, the
new lead guitarist, was watching Dylan like a hawk the whole time,
trying (it seemed) to follow what he was doing, and being very
serious and intense about it. (And Sadie, you were right about
him! Oo la la!)
Dylan, to me, carried the whole show. It seemed he had things to
say and he realized that he needed to say them: his phrasing was
knife-like and aimed for the jugular. The young (and young-at-
heart) audience at his feet was listening as well as
dancing...learning as well as levitating. ;-)
"Lay Lady Lay" was a welcoming early song, featuring Bucky's pedal
steel; then "All Along the Watchtower" had everybody moving to the
music. Well, not everybody. The temperature had now risen to
about 95 degrees, and downstairs, the audience was packed so tight
that (to quote a frequent RMD poster who shall remain nameless) "If
I had been any closer to the guy in front of me, I would have had
to have a blood test!" I kept waiting for someone to pass out,
hopefully not Bob! After the third song, there was a small exodus
of audience members who realized that Bob Dylan was nothing like
they remembered, and he certainly was nothing like that nice Bobby
McFerrin! ;-)
Now the party could really get underway! Bob seemed visibly moved
by all the attention of those who stayed (most of the audience) and
began to really coax from his axe all kinds of magical sounds.
Whatever colors we had in our minds, he showed them to us and we
saw them shine! Bob as the Moon reflecting the light of the
audience and us reflecting it back to him again. "Shelter from the
Storm" seemed to me a hymn to that interplay. It was a new
version, one I'd not heard before, new phrasing, new beat, but it
was heartfelt and real.
"Pledging My Time" brought some Blues-feel to the show, always a
big hit, especially with the Blues-loving Pittsburgh crowd. Bob
strutted his stuff with the rocknroll guitar, pacing the stage as
he played, doing his tip-toe Chuck Berry, and more...
If I do a blow-by-blow report, I'll be here all night and I've
gotta get some sleep! But I'll tell you a few things: "Silvio"
was a crowd-pleaser, as usually, with some very psychedelic play
between the lighting and the music. At the choruses, the lights
would turn on the crowd, who loved it! This ended the electric set
for the moment. (There was a rumor that Bob Weir was in the
audience; I hoped he enjoyed this song. I know *I* did!)
The Acoustic section was a bit hard for me at first; Tony's bass
was vibrating so strongly I had to concentrate really hard to
listen to the other instruments and Bob's voice. "Oh Babe It Ain't
No Lie" was new to me, and I wish I would have been able to listen
to it more closely. "Mr. Tambourine Man" was a familiar version
("Play a song for ME!"), another very popular song with the
audience. "Tangled Up In Blue" was played in a very unique way,
though...Bob was definitely trying to do something new with this
song. It was almost comical to watch Larry straining to anticipate
what Bob's next move was gonna be, and then failing at every turn.
Still, and all, he was a trooper, and I think he might have caught
on to something (?) right toward the end!
The acoustic songs had the screen backdrop, with the old-fashioned
sepia-toned photos projected upon them. They reminded me of old
photos from 1930s/40s _National Geographics_, only someone had
taken only PARTS of the photos, such as geometric forms--such as
staircases or towers--and used them as an abstract statement. I
thought I recognized one of the photos as being from Angor Wat!
The last photo projected was the face of a beautiful young man;
later I was told that was Allen Ginsberg. One nice lighting effect
was to light the band from the front so that their huge silhouettes
appeared on the backdrop.
The Electric Instruments were back with a bang: "Wicked Messenger"!
Greg said, "That's his Passover song." And it was. It was country
and rock and also had some intense chording, a la Patti Smith. A
powerful version, that still needs some work. Bob finished the
song by repeating the beginning: "...for his voice it could not
speak, but only flatter." This song seemed to say a LOT tonight,
and the young people WERE listening, as well as the young-at-heart.
"Shooting Star" followed, and was done very nicely. Bob's voice,
though hoarse, carried much emotion in it for this song, it
obviously means a lot to him. A rollicking version of "Maggie's
Farm" was next...a real anthem of free-will, with everybody singing
along. Bob was smiling and pointing to some of the audience
members, "zapping" them with his bliss.
The encores were my favorite part of the show! Bob's voice seemed
to get better and he also seemed to access a deeper level in his
expression and his guitar-playing. He also began encouraging the
band members, especially Larry Campbell, to express themselves. "I
Shall Be Released" was beautiful in its simplicity, with a nice
long jam that went on and lasted into eternity. I swear he changed
the words to "...somewhere so high above it all." The audience
applauded his words and rippled with an energy that lit up in some
arm waving and bic-lighting.
The acoustic guitar came back for "The Times They Are A-Changin',"
another crowd-pleaser. The words as Bob spoke them, so clear and
to the point, were saying something about Truth, Time, and
Change...and the music that binds them in ever-changing
relationships.
The last song "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" was, unexpectedly, my very
favorite of the evening. Bob kicked out the jams and the whole
band began to work as a whole. Bob goaded Larry Campbell into some
very Blues-y guitar work, and Larry challenged him back to "tell
him something" with that guitar of his. The whole place was
rockin' and rolling' and some kind of THING happened that I just
can't describe. All I can say is that, at the end, Bob did this
gesture where he opened his arms to the audience and brought the
energy back to himself and then sent it out again. It was very
tender and very sincere. (He does the most marvelous things with
his body!) And then he walked offstage by going toward Larry on
his right (where previously he had exited stage left), and Larry
gave him a little pat on the shoulder. Then they walked all the
way around the back of the equipment and finally exited stage left.
We walked out into the night and saw the Moon. I remembered the
astrology reading for this particular moment in time: Full Moon
squares Neptune, then enters Scorpio. Neptune sometimes leads to
confusion, and Scorpio takes no prisoners. Be careful misreading
someone, then holding it against them. If you care enough to pay
attention to the subtle clues, listening as much with your heart as
your head, it's possible to deepen relationships now. This is the
Buddha Full Moon, and it speaks of comfort versus desire. Late
tonight, Venus squares Uranus, and both are aspected by the Moon.
Volatility in relationships is possible, but this can also be a
time when breakthroughs in partnership, love and self-worth arrive.
We walked through the night, not able to relax until we had walked
across the whole campus. The concert had again accessed something
deep inside. The yellow moon was beginning to look less like a
butter mint, and more like a shining gold doubloon.
x, Marguerita
Link to the original page that I came across:
https://www.expectingrain.com/dok/set/97/04/970422a.html
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I am not sure if this person is still around — or if they might read this — if they do, thank you for this description!..
—
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Best wishes,
nightly moth
http://www.nightlymothpaintings.space
I will be uploading more paintings here in the coming days.
Stay on the road, follow the highway signs …
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