B Major - Variation 2 — Acrylic on Linen Canvas by Arnaud Quercy

About This Artwork

This acrylic painting translates the B Major triad into visual form through harmonic-chromatic mapping, using the circle of fifths to assign colors to specific musical notes. The work draws from the opening bars of Chopin's Nocturne Op. 32 No. 1, converting the harmonic structure of the piece into overlapping geometric planes on a large eighty by eighty centimeter linen canvas. The B Major chord produces a palette rooted entirely within one color family, with yellow-green, blue-green, and green forming the harmonic-chromatic foundation of the composition.

Deep, dark greens anchor the left side and lower areas of the canvas, reflecting the bass register where the low B sits in Chopin's arpeggiated left-hand patterns. Olive and yellow-green tones fill the central and upper zones, brightening as the melody rises into the upper register. Warm ochre and tan areas open across the right side and background, while a contained passage of purple marks the presence of A-sharp, the major seventh that appears from the first bar. A small accent of orange punctuates the center, corresponding to E within the harmonic landscape. Gray and blue-gray planes occupy the right edge and lower right corner, providing cool counterbalance to the dominant warm greens and yellows.

The geometric structure mirrors the dual character of Chopin's Nocturne. Soft-edged color fields overlap and blend into one another, while the underlying arrangement of interlocking rectangular and angular planes holds the composition in place. The acrylic medium allows both opaque layering and smooth transitions between adjacent tones. As Variation 2 in the Research on Harmony series within the Harmonic Crossing collection, this piece shows how a chord built from closely related greens produces a composition of subtle internal shifts rather than dramatic contrast.

The work includes certificate of authenticity 20240718-0188 and bears the artist's signature at the lower right corner.