The colour of music

The dissonance and abstraction of 20th-century composers influenced a generation of visual artists.

Sholto Byrnes in The New Statesman:

It is tempting to see a connection between the breakdown of old styles in music and the visual arts from the mid-to-late 19th century onwards. Were the impressionistic works of Monet and Debussy both expressions of the same spirit? Were Matisse's "jazz" cut-out pictures of the mid-20th century linked to the postwar bebop revolution? The answer is: only sometimes. However much Debussy may have disliked the term "impressionist", the parallels between his compositional palette and the one used by the artistic school of the same name are obvious. In the case of Matisse, however, it would be quite wrong to suppose that his "jazz" series had anything to do with the explorations of Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk.

More here.