More than a decade later, Dylan was approached by the Chemnitz Art Gallery in Germany with a request to mount an exhibition of his sketches and drawings. It was the first time he had an offer of this kind and accepted. This interest in his work inspired him to revisit his art and prompted the creation of 320 new pieces. These new creations were subsequently used for the exhibition and make up the Drawn Blank series today.

Mondo Scripto opened at Halcyon Gallery in London. The exhibition presented a selection of Bob Dylan’s most iconic songs, handwritten in pen on paper and accompanied with a corresponding drawing in graphite, also on paper. As Tom Piazza, a celebrated novelist and writer on American music, writes in the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, 'Dylan’s restlessly creative mind is never wholly satisfied, and those familiar with these songs will find surprise at many a new turn of phrase. The unexpected couplings of these works and images offer a surprisingly intimate door into each song, adding dimension, delight and insight into the artist’s relation to his own work.' Not only are some of Dylan’s earlier shows not yet entirely sold out — a good indicator of a print’s investment value — but his work also sells for less or the same as its original gallery costs on the secondary market. Bob Dylan was one of the foremost figures of the beat generation. His music spoke of a time of great social change. Songs such as "The Times Are a-Changin" and "Blowing In The Wind" have immortalised an era for the enjoyment and inspiration of future generations. A landmark retrospective exhibition, Retrospectrum, featuring Dylan’s artistic output to date opened at MAM Shanghai, before beginning a tour that will cover Asia, Europe and the USA. The exhibition, which later opened at Today’s Art Museum in Beijing and the Jupiter Museum of Art in Shenzhen, re-examined The Drawn Blank Series, The New Orleans Series, Mood Swings, The Beaten Path, and works from Mondo Scripto.

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Since his first exhibition, Dylan has been producing art more and more prolifically, especially as the pandemic brought his constant touring to a sudden halt. Just like his music, Bob Dylan’s art is inspired by a wide range of sources — with pieces drawing on trends from French Impressionism, German Expressionism, surrealism, cubism and even Film Noir-esque aesthetics. Since releasing his debut studio album, Bob Dylan, in 1962, Dylan's cultural influence has extended beyond music to encompass art and literature. In 2016, he became the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize in Literature for 'having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition'. Such is his effect on wider culture that 'Dylanology' - the study of Dylan's work - has canonised his songwriting, poetry and art for new generations to dissect and interpret. At Harvard University, Dylan's work is taught by its Professor of the Classics, Richard F. Thomas, alongside the Roman poets Ovid and Virgil. The exhibition is curated by Ms. Katharine J. Wright, Consulting Curator EXHIBITION MATERIALS– High resolution images, captions, wall texts. DISPLAY– Requires approx. 100-110 linear meters (325-375 linear feet), depending on the installation. Bob Dylan's art is a glimpse of the world through his eyes. These paintings show a man on the periphery, constantly peering in, observing and are somewhat telling of life on tour. Views of hotel rooms, car parks and awkward looking people in bars are just some of the subjects he paints.

Collection is comprehensive, covering a substantial part of the artist’s body of work making it capable of serving as a stand-alone exhibition. Bob Dylan has been sketching since the early 1960s, although his work was only shown to the public and made available to buy in 2008. Dylan tends to take on different artistic styles in each of his series, which are generally inspired by the countries and cities he has travelled through whilst on tour. His Beaten Path collection, for example, saw him replicate the American heartlands in broad swaths of watercolour and acrylic on canvas, whilst the more recent Mondo Scripto series features graphite illustrations based on and accompanying his own lyrics. Upon their first release in the Drawn Blank book in 1994, Dylan’s sketches wowed critics and viewers alike with their confident hand and raw honesty. Capturing his chance encounters and observations whilst on tour, the release of The Drawn Blank Seriesin 2008 marked his UK fine art debut. When Dylan first drew the works in this series he had intended to create paintings based upon them. Ingrid Mössinger’s proposed exhibition encouraged him to now do this using watercolour and gouache. “I was fascinated to learn of Ingrid’s interest in my work and it gave me impetus to realize the vision I had many years on” commented Bob Dylan. These paintings formed the collection entitled The Drawn Blank Series . Dylan dates the origins of his work as a visual artist to the early 1960s. A few drawings reached the public gaze with album covers like Music from Big Pink(1968) and Self Portrait(1970). In 1974, Dylan spent two seminal months studying art with Ashcan School tutor Norman Raeben, who philosophised the importance of 'perceptual honesty' - painting life as it as seen, not imagined.Dylan says of this time: "He put my mind and my hand and my eye together, in a way that allowed me to do consciously what I unconsciously felt."

Drawn Blank in Provence | Paul Green in conversation with Joachim Pissarro, Art Historian and Curator

The artist’s journeys between cities and towns are personified by his Expressionist lines, which capture the instant moment of a place, person and time. Repeated motifs encourage the viewer to explore the depths of colour and the evolution of his work.His art has been likened to that of Pablo Picasso, with critics applauding the relatability of his collections. He paints mostly from life, stating: "I’m pretty much interested in people, histories, myth, and portraits; people of all stripes." In 2019, he held his retrospective Retrospectrum exhibition at MAM Shanghai, which went on to open at Today's Art Museum in Beijing in July 2020. Featuring his artistic output to date, the tour will cover Asia, Europe and the USA.

Capturing passing snapshots of life on the road, anonymous figures and hidden-away places, the paintings are based on images sketched by Dylan, reflecting his travels in Europe and America between 1989-1991. The diverse scenes – still-life, landscape, cityscape, seascape, or portrait – are enlivened with Dylan’s varied perspectives and bursts of intense, piercing colour. Compositions of earthy tones alongside soaring blues unite select groupings of paintings, irrespective of subject matter. Although Bob Dylan is best known as a singer and songwriter, he is also a writer, film director, actor, radio broadcaster and artist. hese paintings formed a collection entitled 'The Drawn Blank Series'. Unlike the delicacy of the drawings in 'Drawn Blank' the paintings are expressive and vibrant. Dylan paints several versions of the same image, using different colours and tones which result in a dynamic variety of impressions, feelings and emotions.This choice and skill in applying different colour arrangements to the same original drawing enables Dylan to express his feelings and perceptions of an idea or view - continually evoking different feelings and reactions, and thereby creating evolving works of art. This technique is intrinsic to Dylan in all aspects of his creative life. The Drawn Blank series reveals the artist's penchant for experimentation and spontaneity, with each brushstroke imbued with a raw and visceral energy. While Dylan's artistic style may appear deceptively simple at first glance, it is this very unpretentiousness that allows the observer to connect deeply with the essence of his compositions. Museum curators are provided with extensive information and may curate the exhibition to their specifications.

A collection of Bob Dylan's drawings and sketches, made while on a tour of America, Europe and Asia between 1989 and 1992, were published in 'Drawn Blank' in 1994. These drawings were re-worked and first shown at a museum exhibition in Germany in autumn 2007, and at Halcyon Gallery, London in 2008 to huge critical acclaim. In 2010 an exhibit of additional paintings premiered at the National Gallery of Denmark, in Copenhagen. What followed was an artistically significant publishing programme which continues to draw great interest as a source of insight into Bob Dylan. Coinciding with the Frost Art Museum's new Retrospectrum exhibition, Bob Dylan's latest release sees two of the first-ever paintings from his iconic The Drawn Blank Series collection recreated as an exclusive set of limited edition graphics. Hand-signed by the Nobel laureate and Grammy Award-winning musician, these highly collectible works revisit the origins of the artistic style of one of the world's most influential cultural icons. Infused with the radiant light of Provence and displayed in Château La Coste’s Renzo Piano-designed art gallery, this exhibition presents 23 unseen canvases from The Drawn Blank Series, an important collection of Bob Dylan’s work created between 2007-2009 . During the last six decades he has released more than 50 albums and written in excess of 500 songs, some of the most famous being ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, ‘The Times They Are A-Changin ’’ and ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, which were visually reimagined for the first time in his Mondo Scripto collection. His songs have been covered more than 6,000 times by artists as diverse as Duke Ellington, Jimi Hendrix, Guns N’ Roses, Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Marley, Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Adele and U2.

The Drawn Blank Series focuses on three years of Dylan’s artistic career, from 1989 to 1992. The works were drawn whilst touring America, Europe and Asia and reveal a personal insight into “a life lived out of a suitcase” [Andrew Graham-Dixon].The artist’s journeys between cities and towns are personified by his expressionist lines, which capture the instant moment of a place, person and time. Repeated motifs encourage the viewer to explore the depths of colour and the evolution of his work.To reflect the amazing body of work contained in 'The Drawn Blank Series', a publishing programme of limited edition graphics commenced, releases in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 generated huge worldwide interest, leading to many of the pieces selling out immediately. Summer 2013 saw the release of 'The Drawn Blank Series 2013', a portfolio of eleven pieces reflecting some of the best images from the collection. Now 'The Drawn Blank Series 2016' continues the journey with some of the most profound and haunting images yet released. As a fine-artist, Bob Dylan began drawing in the 1960's to pass time whilst recovering from a motorbike crash. His work was first brought to public attention in 1994 with the publication of the Drawn Blank book, a compilation of drawings and sketches made between 1989 and 1992 whilst on tour in America, Asia and Europe. Throughout the series, viewers may recognise echoes of Dylan's music, as he translates his lyrical sensibility onto the canvas. His portrayal of human figures, cityscapes, and landscapes exudes a distinctive sense of fleeting moments frozen in time, inviting viewers to dive into the soul of the portrayed subjects and experience their narratives. In 2011, New York based gallery Gagosian held an exhibition of Dylan's Asia Series of controversial acrylic paintings.