Ab Octaves - Reflexions 19 — Watercolor on Paper by Arnaud Quercy

About This Artwork

This watercolor translates the musical interval of Ab octaves into visual form through chromesthetic mapping. Part of the Synesthetic Explorations collection, the work bridges auditory and visual perception by converting specific musical notes into their corresponding colors. The composition explores how the interval spanning from D3 to A5 manifests as a harmonious arrangement of blues, warm grays, and subtle earth tones.

Light grays and steel tones dominate the surface, creating a luminous foundation that occupies nearly half the composition. Blue areas appear as lightsteelblue forms, translating the Ab5 note into visual presence. Yellow-orange silver tones provide substantial color areas, representing the A5 note in the octave relationship. Small accent notes of red-orange and dark brown emerge as precise marks, corresponding to the lower register notes G3 and D3. The watercolor technique allows these colors to blend naturally while maintaining distinct harmonic relationships.

The work measures 24.0 × 32.0 cm on paper, creating an intimate format for examining the chromesthetic relationships. Certificate of authenticity number 20240718-0181 accompanies the piece, with the artist's signature located at bottom right. The painting forms part of Quercy's systematic exploration of synesthetic translation, where specific musical structures generate corresponding visual compositions through established color-to-pitch relationships.