In the mood 1961

George Pemba made this painting, In the Mood, with oil on board, and look at how those pigments have been laid down. It feels like it came into being through a process of constant shifting, trying, failing, then hitting on something just right. I can imagine Pemba, brush in hand, trying to capture the essence of music—how it feels to be enveloped by it. What might he have been thinking as he rendered the musician’s closed eyes, lost in his craft? The paint is thinly applied, and this choice gives the painting an airy quality, as if the music itself is a breath. And what about those hands—large, pink, and so expressive? They seem to dance across the keys, each finger imbued with intention. This piece reminds me of other painters who have attempted to visualize music and sound, like Wassily Kandinsky, each trying to find their own visual language. And, like all great works of art, Pemba's piece sparks an ongoing conversation, inspiring new ways of seeing and interpreting our world through the language of paint.