Bob Dylan’s Artwork Goes On Show In Home Of Dylan Thomas

A retrospective exhibition of Bob Dylan’s artwork has gone on show in the home of Dylan Thomas, the famed Welsh poet who “did not go gentle into that good night” and from whom Robert Zimmerman stole the stage name which would make him famous.

When Bob Dylan’s not busy butchering Frank Sinatra songs, he also likes to paint. Opinions on Bob’s “masterpieces” are mixed, but people who live in Wales can find out for themselves exactly what happens when Dylan throws some paint at a canvas, hopes some of it will stick, and then rebrands it as “art.”

Wales Online reports that although Bob Dylan is famous for being a music icon, he’s also a “talented” artist and a retrospective of Bob’s “vibrant art work” has gone on show in Cardiff, Wales.

The exhibition at Castle Fine Art features works released annually from 2008 to 2014. All the pieces are hand-signed by Dylan and are taken from his critically-acclaimed Drawn Blank Series.

The collection is based on pencil drawings Dylan sketched on the road between 1989 and 1992. The initial sketches charted Bob’s observations of everyday life, but they have now been beefed up on canvas with watercolor and gouache to create the sort of paintings people in turtleneck sweaters can appreciate in well-lit rooms.

Critics have exclaimed that Dylan continually evokes an array of feelings and reactions in his dynamic variety of impressions. Which kind of makes him sound like a stand-up comedian.

However, according the gallery manager at Castle Fine Art, Timothy Scarfe, Dylan is incomparable to other artists in terms of the way he uses color.

“Bob Dylan is notably one of the most influential cultural figures of our time but many people don’t know that he’s a great artist too.

“The way in which he uses colour is beyond comparison to any other artist, instantly breathing emotion and feeling into a painting. It’s similar to how he can sing a song in different styles and change how the listener interprets it.”