Related trends in music and painting of the twentieth century

ions exist in their own neutral field, usually b~ack, grey or white, a kind of cosmic space capable of infinite extension. The picture frame cuts into this space -it does not limit it. Now a work of art must have coherence. Two principles of organization, giving coherence to the modern work of art, seem to stand out to the observer. The first of these is that the forms within the work interact dynamically with each other, are interdependent and thus cohere. Such organizations might be compared to the pattern in a fabric, which may continue indefinitely if woven at length, and which is seemingly arbitrary in its limitation, that is, in the places in which it is cut off from itself. Naturally, some patterns lend themselves to large surfaces and some to small; the pattern of pillowcovering differs from that of drapery material, and the two are seldom interchangeable. Thus we have massive, lengthy pieces of music snd mural paintings, as well as the miniature pieces of Webern, for example, or some of the smaller works of Klee. Paramount in this group are the "action painters" such as Pollock and Riopelle, mentioned in the discussion 393