Composers who were also painters/sculptors

[vandermolen]

A few come to mind. The Lithuanian composer Ciurlionis was, I think, a very talented painter

Also Arnold Schoenberg and William Alwyn:

[vers la flamme]

Am I wrong in recalling that those Hickox Alwyn records feature paintings not by the composer himself, but by his wife (the composer Doreen Carwithen aka Mary Alwyn)?

Ciurlionis' paintings are amazing! But I have not heard any of his music.

[Lisztianwagner]

Apart from Schönberg, George Gershwin and Felix Mendelssohn were also painters.

[MusicTurner]

Some other composers that also did paintings were Gösta Nystroem, Carl Ruggles, Lord Berners, Dane Rudhyar, and to some extent Satie and Martinu (drawings, cartoons), Wyshnegradsky (mosaic pictures) ...

[Jo498]

E.T.A. Hoffmann (of Kreisleriana, Contes d'Hoffmann, Coppelia, Nutcracker etc. fame) was mainly a writer, but also a good composer and caricaturist/illustrator. Composer/musician might have been his dream career and he worked for a short time as Kapellmeister but was overall unlucky in the field of music and eventually had to work as a law clerk to support himself.

[vandermolen]

Am I wrong in recalling that those Hickox Alwyn records feature paintings not by the composer himself, but by his wife (the composer Doreen Carwithen aka Mary Alwyn)?

Ciurlionis' paintings are amazing! But I have not heard any of his music.

No, they are by William Alwyn according to the booklets.

Try 'The Sea' by Ciurlionis - a beautifully poetic and atmospheric score.

[vandermolen]

Thanks for interesting replies. I had no idea, for example, that Gershwin and Mendelssohn were painters.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Thanks for interesting replies. I had no idea, for example, that Gershwin and Mendelssohn were painters.

According to a ClassicFM website (just googled), both George and Ira Gershwin, and also their sister, were painters.

PD

[vandermolen]

According to a ClassicFM website (just googled), both George and Ira Gershwin, and also their sister, were painters.

PD

Also interesting. Thanks PD

[DaveF]

Hindemith too - the website has a selection:

https://www.hindemith.info/en/life-work/drawings/

And Haydn wasn't a painter or sculptor, as far as I know, but used to make jokes about being a potter, Tonkünstler meaning "clay artist" as well as "composer".

[pjme]

According to a ClassicFM website (just googled), both George and Ira Gershwin, and also their sister, were painters.

PD

https://smtd.umich.edu/ami/gershwin/?p=870

Still, I'm glad that Gershwin , Schoenberg and Hindemith were foremost composers ...

Ciurlionis (has had) several exhibitions : https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/09/16/london-show-shines-a-light-on-the-20th-century-artist-cum-composer-who-lithuanians-consider-a-national-hero
https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/whats-on/exhibitions/mikalojus-konstantinas-ciurlionis
https://museu.ms/virtual-exhibition/entry/915