Fine art and music have always gone hand in hand dating back to the numerous British popular musicians in the 1960s that got their start as students in art school. Among the many names who have been just as comfortable playing with oils as they are instruments and sheet music are Joni Mitchell, David Bowie, Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan and Robyn Hitchcock. Add Black Crowes member Rich Robinson to that list. Ever since former bandmate Johnny Colt gifted Robinson with an easel, five canvases, a set of brushes, paint and a palette, the Georgia native has been earnestly delving into this art form.
“What I love about abstract art is that it’s so malleable to the individual that looks at it. So whatever your relationship is to that is what it is. You will see different things in it that I won’t see. Just like you will hear different things in music or what I didn’t mean when I wrote that song,” he explained. “That’s the thing. Everyone has a relationship to this thing and that’s how we’re all connected. And that’s what I love about it.”
The following are Rich Robinson’s five favorite artists:
1. Salvador Dali (May 11, 1904-January 23, 1989)
“Early on, he was my guy. [I love] the surreal nature of what he did. Just to experience someone who thought that way. That was a scenario where someone could just tweak reality just enough. He could create a beautiful realistic painting and there’s something in there that’s a little off. The way he painted that I understand is that he would turn his back to a canvas and he would look into the reflection of a spoon and when he fell asleep, he would paint the last thing that he remembered. The spoon dropping would wake him up. He’s the guy who sort of propelled me into it.”
2. Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862-February 6, 1918)
“[I’m a fan of] the gold and sort of shapes and otherly world that would be intermingled with these beautiful portraits. It was almost like this portrait that was brought in with this beautiful gold. To me it was like a different world.”
3. Gerhardt Richter (February 9, 1932- )
“I love his concepts and approach. My friend has a couple of his originals, which is the most amazing thing. Here’s a guy who has all the ability in the world but his abstracts are just something that speaks to me and pulls so much out of me. I don’t know why. There was a movie about Gerhardt Richter and no one has ever seen what he does. So just to see his process, what he does, paints, adds and pulls away—because I’m a huge fan, that’s kind of how I’ve always approached it. And it’s that depth and texture and the colors. You can walk up and see the movement of the colors, although I pulled them back a little. But you can see that movement and all where that goes. It’s so finite. You can get in so close and see the tiniest movement in a piece of color. For him, that’s one of the things I’ve always loved about his work. Plus he was also known for working for a long time just in grays and these mono colors that are so subtle.”
4.Giotto di Bondone (July 1266-January 8, 1337)
“He was this pre-Renaissance artist and was a religious iconographic painter. His colors mixed with these halos and golds—there is something so striking about the contrast and the colors that he chose to work with.”
5. Egon Schiele (June 12, 1890-October 31, 1918)
“I’ve always been drawn to his sketches and drawings. There’s just something about when you look at work by Egon Schiele—it just draws these emotions and I like the fact that I can’t put a feeling on what it is because it’s very complex and I’ll pull a lot of conflicting emotions. It’s weird about him in particular, to see that is really cool.”
