Art Supplies Help Dylan Develop New Career

Published: 2010-10-26

Bob Dylan may be one of the world's most famous musicians but few people know that he is also an accomplished artist.

The Drawn Blank Series, an exhibition of the singer-songwriter's work created with art supplies while travelling on tour during the late eighties and early nineties, was launched to critical acclaim in 2007.

Portraits, interiors, landscapes, still lifes, nudes and street scenes are included in the Series, which were done by Dylan in an attempt to "relax and refocus a restless mind."

Dylan said: "I was just drawing whatever I felt like drawing, whenever I felt like doing it. The idea was always to do it without affection or self-reference, to provide some kind of panoramic view of the world as I saw it."

The American cultural legend was encouraged to use watercolour and gouache art supplies to create his work by Ingrid Mössinger, the curator of the Kunstsammlungen Museum, in Chemnitz, Germany.

Mössinger first witnessed Dylan's artistic ability when he viewed The Drawn Blank Series during a visit to New York and successfully arranged for the musician to have his first ever public art exhibition.

There was a positive response from many critics about Dylan's ability to create quality pieces using art supplies and art materials.

Tobias Rüther, of Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper, said: "That which he's done for years on the stage - performing new versions of his old songs in order to give a fresh interpretation - he's now continuing on deckle-edged paper."

Bob Dylan's art is incredibly popular in Britain and many galleries have said they often sell out of his work whenever it is exhibited to the public.

The BBC reported in 2008 that a gallery in Scotland was inundated with enquires about Bob Dylan's art when they exhibited his work from The Drawn Blank Series.

Bob Corsie, owner of the Breeze gallery, told the BBC: "We have had visitors from all walks of life, not just art fans but Dylan fans in general."

Princes Square Castle Gallery in Glasgow told the BBC that they could have sold most of Dylan's paintings four times over.

Andrew White, director of publishing at Washington Green Fine Art Publishing told the Yorkshire Post that Dylan's art can be appreciated on their own despite his reputation as a legendary musician.

He said: "When you see the exhibition and are surrounded by the work, it gives you a real feel of what Dylan is all about."