Mick Hartley

The paintings of Bob Dylan now on show at the Gagosian Gallery in New York are stirring up some controversy. Apparently they may lack a little, um, originality.

"Opium", for instance…

…bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous 1915 photograph by Léon Busy, "Woman Smoking Opium":

And "Trade" draws more than a little inspiration from a 1948 Henri Cartier-Bresson photograph.

It's all particularly resonant because of the claims of plagiarism that have dogged Dylan's career. I've posted before on his direct borrowings from bluesmen like Muddy Waters and Leroy Carr. His Chronicles Vol. One has passages that seem to be lifted straight from Jack London. And that's by no means all:

Time and time again folk rock legend Bob Dylan has blatantly borrowed for his lyrics. Christie's auction house acknowledged in 2009 that a handwritten Dylan poem that was up for sale really consisted of words from a song by country crooner Hank Snow. Director Martin Scorsese showed in his 2005 documentary, "No Direction Home," how Dylan stole the line "Go away from my window…" — the immortal opener of his 1964 song "It Ain't Me, Babe" — from singer John Jacob Niles. Dylan also purloined text from Japanese writer Junichi Saga's novel "Confessions of a Yakuza" for his 2001 album "Love and Theft."

The thing is, he doesn't care. It's how he works. One of the main interests of his Theme Time Radio Hour shows was the way he happily played so many of the songs that he had, in effect, plagiarised during the course of his career. As for this art show, he must have realised that his sources would be unearthed. How could he not?

The quotation waiting in the wings here, begging to be brought out and dusted down, is that old Oscar Wilde chestnut "Talent borrows, genius steals". For Dylan's music I think that's right. He brazenly pilfered from all manner of sources: blues, folk, country. But what he did with it was genius. Finding the original sources may be an interesting game (and it's not hard), but it does nothing to detract from the man's extraordinary achievements. 

His art, though…well, it would be very generous to make any claims of genius. I saw some of his work earlier in the year here in London. It's perfectly competent, pleasant stuff, but nothing at all special. At this level, yes, the kind of plagiarism that's been uncovered here does matter, I think. It's not a huge deal, and if he'd added "after a photograph by Léon Busy" to the title of his "Opium" picture, no one would have been that bothered. But there is an expectation of originality in an art show at a major gallery. 

Not that Dylan will care. But it does underline the obvious point that without the Bob Dylan signature this exhibition would never have happened. And it makes the Gagosian Gallery look just a little silly.