Linling Lu

Fugue in 3 Voices

Linling Lu (b. China 1983), One Hundred Melodies of Solitude, No.265 and the artist’s piano. Photo by Xiaoming Liu, Ph.D. Courtesy of Arting Gallery.

Upcoming exhibition

July 11, 2026 – January 3, 2027
Located in The Baker Museum, Springborn Gallery

Baltimore and Washington, DC-based artist Linling Lu is best known for her circular paintings inspired by classical and contemporary music, which have been exhibited in museums and public collections around the world. Her work is based on her multifaceted and multilayered exploration of music. To unite and expand experiences of art and music, the artist translates complex musical information into painting, from an expansive view of an entire composition to a small group of notes in a measure. Her hard-edge paintings are composed of concentric rings of color that appear to vibrate and resonate with the sounds she hears in music. Lu meticulously paints each band of color by hand, using bands of varying widths to evoke musical contemplations and creating paintings that range up to nine feet in diameter.

For this installation, Linling Lu: Fugue in 3 Voices, Lu created new pieces inspired by the works of three master composers: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonín Dvořák and Igor Stravinsky, referencing works featured in the  Naples Philharmonic’s Masterworks series during the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. Just as a fugue interweaves different musical voices, this exhibition will entwine the influences of these three composers together into one cohesive installation that invites the viewer to consider music with their eyes as well as their ears. This synthesis of musical and visual sources of inspiration is deeply ingrained in Lu’s artistic practice: A classically trained pianist, she continues to find inspiration in the study of music and practices piano in her studio between painting sessions.

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