Bands Named After Works of Art

I'm okay with expanding the thread to include those

The Atlanta-based post-hardcore band Malevich:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8fH5r8NKI8

Cabaret Voltaire, kind of

Fra Lippi Lippi

Lippo

Nighthawks would be a decent band name... [looking it up] I see there are a couple but neither seems very noteworthy.

There was a Scottish band in the 80s called the Bathers who I'm guessing took their name from either Cezanne or Seurat

Blueboy were named after a gay porno magazine - but according to wikipedia that magazine did parody the Gainsborough painting for its first issue, so in a roundabout way...

I'd be shocked if there isn't at least one Piss Christ out there.

great crust punk band from Melbourne, sadly defunct

The Aluminum Group - the band's name is taken from a line of furniture by Charles and Ray Eames

They also have a song called Rose Selavy's Valise, referencing Duchamp's female alter ego:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3tWSMyYEhA

Here's one I instantly googled -

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/la-pietà-mn0002237682

https://img.artlogic.net/w_2020,h_1830,c_limit/exhibit-e/61fd44bf9789833084405ac2/9f99cb8500a8834da3e32afb44ace0a0.jpeg

Pretty sure Eat were named after this Robert Indiana sculpture as they copped the type for their logo early on.

Small potatoes, but I named my band Rome Pays Off, after a Basquiat painting.

The Fall

oh i've misremembered that lol

https://e.snmc.io/i/600/w/5ea75c05930973acef3e705a853d84dc/1538964/a-bigger-splash-i-dont-believe-a-word-silence-cover-art.jpg

Head of David (sculpture by Michelangelo)

https://www.discogs.com/artist/523-Rothko

(oh, an artist, not the actual art)

Yeah I’m now mildly annoyed that there’s no Rothko called Color Field (or Green on Red); or for that matter any Pollock called Action Painting.

Along similar lines, there was a Glasgow band in the 80s called The Fauves, which IIRC featured the comics writer Grant Morrison

The Shower Scene From Psycho was a band from Australia which probably fits.

klarification korner: nighthawks is also a tom waits LP title, fra lippo lippi is the title of a poem by browning (but yes, abt the painter)

(to be clear i think the first is a more likely source for rockers to pick up a nice word from and the second less likely -- wtf reads browning these days -- but FLL are norwegian so who knows)

i cheated and googled this but now I actually want to hear them...

Unwound covers Joy Division - a strange but concise description for the Phoenix based three-piece, Death of Marat.

Browning is pretty good imo - I mean the shorter stuff anyway, I've never waded thru the epics

today I learned that old school drum and bass producer/DJ Dr S Gachet did *not* get his name from the Van Gogh painting

How did you get your DJ name?
Well I wanted a name that once you hear it you never forget it. It is a French name, but a lot of people forget to put the accent over the E. Many people think that I got the name from the painting Dr Gachet that was sold for £82 million, I didn't - Gachet means Trig of a Gun. Everyone kept saying to me I was too fast, so I thought Gachet fits. Basically everyone is calling themselves DJ that, DJ this & DJ whatever, it's too boring so instead - DOCTOR!! I'm doctor of my field so I am Dr S Gachet the Vinocologist - I hit a different angle.

klarification korner: nighthawks is also a tom waits LP title, fra lippo lippi is the title of a poem by browning (but yes, abt the painter)

(to be clear i think the first is a more likely source for rockers to pick up a nice word from and the second less likely -- wtf reads browning these days -- but FLL are norwegian so who knows)

― mark s, Tuesday, April 9, 2024 10:32 AM (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Most places give Browning as the source for the band's name & tho there's no real solid proof I can see, it seems likely just bcz it's an odd painter to pick and there are a few other ways to give the name (Filippo Lippi, Fra Filippo Lippi, Lippo Lippi) if it were the painter.

If they formed in 1980 Browning's not quite as dead as he is now. Still in the anthologies.

why do I care? because wtf reads Browning these days, it me. Early or late, long or short, I like Browning. Kept a tumblr for him turning 200 ages ago.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQY6VhVtgg4kCrvlh9U9aRjVmSCVhqqB9vFIt7_PORKUg&s

when i was googling the lippo lippi material (factchecking isn't cheating!) the AI leant to suggest i might be asking the question "is fra lippo lippi filipino?"

AI finding new racially charged ways to work with the traditional Filippino Lippi/Filippo lippi confusion.

Ha! i came here to post Death of Marat bc when I encountered them almost 25 years ago I was perplexed by the band name until I realized it was a work of art i was not familiar with

dang i have not thought about Death of Marat for a very long time

need a thread for bands named after items exhibited in madame tussauds :)

(first bid: two called wax, plus a wax museum and a nightmares in wax)

name some works of art named after bands https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/5c87f92063ea954f4823026a/1:1/w_320,c_limit/andrew%20bird%20my%20finest%20work.jpg

The most interesting thing about Fra Lippo Lippi is that their former keyboardist, Rune Kristoffersen, started (and still runs) the amazing Rune Grammofon jazz (well, mostly, kinda) label.

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/the-david/another-day-another-lifetime/

Spiral Jetty

https://www.discogs.com/artist/575737-Spiral-Jetty

Thought The Last Dinner Party would qualify, but a fan page corrected this assumption:

The first name of the band, "The Dinner Party", was inspired by the idea of a huge debauched dinner party where people came together to celebrate with a hedonistic banquet. It was only after they had named their band they found out about the art installation of the same name by US artist Judy Chicago.

One of at least three R. Mutts on Discogs:

https://i.discogs.com/J5x94nDy2icTwEUb2u1VMKJ38dIbw-SHlnbBKBCJJ0c/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE2Mzgz/NTM0LTE2MDc0MTg5/NTgtNzA2Ny5qcGVn.jpeg