B Minor - Variations 9 — Acrylic on Paper by Arnaud Quercy

About This Artwork

This acrylic painting translates Bach's Mass in B Minor into visual form through chromesthetic mapping, converting musical structure into geometric color relationships based on the circle of fifths. Working on a twenty-one by twenty-one centimeter paper support, the piece explores how a complex choral and orchestral composition can manifest as interlocking colored shapes. The work belongs to the Synesthetic Explorations collection, which investigates systematic connections between sound and sight.

Orange tones fill the largest areas of the composition, appearing in warm coral and peru shades that anchor the upper right and create the dominant visual presence. A dark brown-gray rectangle occupies the right-center portion, providing weight and contrast against the warmer hues. Yellow-green passages appear in soft sage and lime tones across the left and center, while a bright chartreuse-yellow strip runs horizontally through the lower third. The geometric forms overlap and intersect with visible edges, creating a grid-like structure that suggests both the mathematical precision of Bach's counterpoint and the warmth of the orchestral texture.

The compact square format encourages close viewing to perceive how the minor key's characteristic qualities emerge through this particular color arrangement. Acrylic on paper allows for crisp edges between color blocks while the medium's opacity creates solid, definitive shapes. As Variation 9 in the Research on Harmony series, this piece demonstrates how chromesthetic translation renders the specific tonal qualities of B minor through a palette dominated by orange and earth tones balanced with green accents.

The work includes certificate of authenticity number 20251123-0078 and bears the artist's signature at bottom right.