5 famous works of art that inspired great music and songs

Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night. From classical composers to modern day songwriters, famous artworks throughout history have also been musical muses.

Composers and songwriters tend to look for inspiration in many places. But did you know that famous artworks throughout history have also acted as musical muses to classical composers and modern day songwriters? Here are five musical works that were inspired by art.

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Coldplay's Viva la Vida (2008)

Frida Kahlo's 'Viva la Vida'.

The cover for British rock band Coldplay's 2008 album Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends may be the painting Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix, but the songViva la Vida is said to be inspired by the late Mexican painter Frida Kahlo’s final painting... also called (surprise, surprise) Viva la Vida.

Kahlo’s artwork, depicting watermelons in various cut shapes, speaks of the vibrancy of life amid trials and tribulations without.

Kahlo was in her final stages of her life when she painted Viva la Vida. Coldplay’s album and single also has a sense of vibrancy and echoes of revolution.

Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday In The Park With George (1984)

Georges Seurat’s 'A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte'.

Musical fans would definitely know Stephen Sondheim’s award-winning 1984 musical Sunday In The Park With George.

The Tony and Olivier Award winning musical revolves around George who’s so immersed in painting his masterpiece and his great-grandson (also named George) a cynical contemporary artist.

What you may not know is that this musical was inspired by French pointillist painter Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte. What’s more, the musical’s protagonist George is a fictionalised version of Seurat.

Don McLean’s Vincent (1971)

Vincent van Gogh’s 'The Starry Night'.

American folk rock singer-songwriter Don McLean, best known for his 1971 hit song American Pie, wrote another famous song for the same album.

After reading a book on Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, McLean wrote a haunting song inspired by van Gogh’s 1889 painting The Starry Night.

Nat King Cole’s Mona Lisa (1950)

Leonardo da Vinci’s 'Mona Lisa'

Being one of the most famous and most recognisable works of art in the world, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has undoubtedly been the muse of many creative minds. But did you know she also inspired crooner Nat King Cole’s 1950 song by the same name?

Written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Captain Carey, U.S.A. film, the song makes direct reference to the renaissance painting and Mona Lisa’s renowned mysterious smile.

“Do you smile to tempt a lover Mona Lisa, or is this your way to hide a broken heart”.

It also won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1950.

5. Claude Debussy’s La Mer (1905)

Katsushika Hokusai’s 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa'.

If you happen to own a T-shirt that features a mighty blue wave with a mountain in the background, it’s probably inspired by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa.

The artwork is part of Hokusai’s woodblock print series Thirty-six Views Of Mount Fuji.

This iconic print is said to have inspired French composer Claude Debussy’s La Mer (The Sea). The orchestral work evokes the wild force of the sea, very much like Hokusai's depiction in his print.