"An artist should only know beautiful people". Or something to that effect had read my English Literature text book on a humdrum afternoon of the sultry Mumbai autumn. Over the din of the rotating dusty fans in the classroom, the faraway shouts of the students in the playground, and the dull drone of my teacher's voice, cutting through the unbridled wanderings of the adolescent mind, this statement registered with me.
It was simple yet profound. Beauty appeals to our basic instincts, it causes joy and inspiration. The artist inspired by the beauty he perceives, turns it into another form of beauty. Almost like the first law of thermodynamics.
History is abundant with the examples of beautiful people who captured the imagination, and the hearts, of many a great artists leading to such lasting works. Thus, it barely comes as a surprise that Pattie Boyd allegedly led Harrison and Clapton to pen some of their most famous works, such as Something and Layla, respectively. Or that Edie Sedgwick notably influenced Warhol, the Velvet Underground, and Dylan. And Gala Dali, Salvador Dali's wife and lifelong model, also took on the double role of muse and benefactor of other painters and musicians including her ex-husband, poet Paul Eluard. Of course, no mention of muses can ever be complete without Yoko Ono, credited amongst other things with the break-up of the Fab Four, Lennon's solo career as a musician, and his much vocal political activism. Although how effective lying in bed for weeks with your muse was in bringing about world peace is anyone's guess, and besides the point here.
It is fascinating how something as capricious and mercurial as an affair can inspire such lasting works. Or was it that the act of creation from artistic interpretation that led to the great passion it inspired? Nevertheless, many of these artist-muse associations were rather transitory and ever-evolving. The talent and intellect of these creators was so immense that they would exhaust their fascination quickly, constantly seeking perhaps the next source of inspiration. But then again, the human mind is limited in its ability to perceive depth contiguously. The need for something fresh, something new, for change, is in our DNA. Even though it often inspires fear and resistance, evolution and reinvention is a basic attribute, it is a cause and an effect.
It was simple yet profound. Beauty appeals to our basic instincts, it causes joy and inspiration. The artist inspired by the beauty he perceives, turns it into another form of beauty. Almost like the first law of thermodynamics.
History is abundant with the examples of beautiful people who captured the imagination, and the hearts, of many a great artists leading to such lasting works. Thus, it barely comes as a surprise that Pattie Boyd allegedly led Harrison and Clapton to pen some of their most famous works, such as Something and Layla, respectively. Or that Edie Sedgwick notably influenced Warhol, the Velvet Underground, and Dylan. And Gala Dali, Salvador Dali's wife and lifelong model, also took on the double role of muse and benefactor of other painters and musicians including her ex-husband, poet Paul Eluard. Of course, no mention of muses can ever be complete without Yoko Ono, credited amongst other things with the break-up of the Fab Four, Lennon's solo career as a musician, and his much vocal political activism. Although how effective lying in bed for weeks with your muse was in bringing about world peace is anyone's guess, and besides the point here.
It is fascinating how something as capricious and mercurial as an affair can inspire such lasting works. Or was it that the act of creation from artistic interpretation that led to the great passion it inspired? Nevertheless, many of these artist-muse associations were rather transitory and ever-evolving. The talent and intellect of these creators was so immense that they would exhaust their fascination quickly, constantly seeking perhaps the next source of inspiration. But then again, the human mind is limited in its ability to perceive depth contiguously. The need for something fresh, something new, for change, is in our DNA. Even though it often inspires fear and resistance, evolution and reinvention is a basic attribute, it is a cause and an effect.
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