That would be Emerson, Lake, and Palmer.
“The Fairy Feller’s Masterstroke” by Queen is about a painting by Richard Dadd.
Shocking Blue - Venus
Nat King Cole - Mona Lisa
If you’re going to include the Shocking Blue song “Venus,” you’d also have to include the Frankie Avalon song “Venus,” although I’m not sure if either of them is inspired by a particular artwork about Venus.
Wow - I didn’t know about most of these. Lots of listening to do.
Mona Lisa - can’t believe I didn’t think of that one. :smack:
“Vincent” is about van Gogh’s whole oeuvre, not just Starry Night.
John Greaves/Peter Blegvad/Lisa Herman: “Seven Scenes from the Painting ‘Exhuming the First American Mastodon’ by C.W. Peale”
Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit comes to mind.
And the entire score of CATS (based on T.S. Eliot’s book Old Possum’s Book of Practical CATS)
David Bowie 1984, and Roy Harper 1948ish about the Orwell novel.
Good one!
The Cramps Naked Girl Falling Down The Stairs
An absolutely entertaining analysis of Nude Descending a Staricase
A good chunk of the second half of the Diamond Dogs album is 1984-inspired - Bowie had wanted to do a musical version of 1984 but couldn’t get the rights.
Aside from 1984, there’s We Are The Dead and Big Brother. Definite theming.
Hank Williams “Kaw-Liga”
(You never said it had to be about a good work of art!)Elvis Costello “Mystery Dance” and Letters to Juliet, both about Romeo and Juliet.
Junior Brown, “Still Life with Rose.” He’s staring at a painting and ruminating about a relationship.
Loudon Wainwright III “Jesse Don’t Like It” was about Jesse Helms’ attempt to defund the NEA over a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit. It name checks several other artists, but it’s about Mapplethorpe.
Austin Lounge Lizards, “Paint Me On Velvet,” about crappy paintings of Elvis and of dogs playing poker.
Worth mentioning: Songs for Drella, a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale about Andy Warhol, though not specifically about his paintings.
Orwell’s Animal Farm also inspired a number of musical works, most notably The Beatles’ “Piggies” and Pink Floyd’s Animals album.
Xanadu, by Rush.
Relates the problems of being the guy who finds Xanadu. It doesn’t end well for him.
Another classic in literature is made even more famous by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs…Yes,
“Hey there Little Red Riding Hood, you sure are lookin’ good to a Big Bad Wolf like me;” Ah ooooooooooo."
Aww, rats. Got almost to the end to post this one, and you beat me to it.
The funny part is it that I am literally just now listening to this song (it came up in random rotation on my iPod). So I’m sitting here thinking, “Okay, what can I add to this thread,” and Geddy’s yelling in the background about “Xanadu…” 
For that matter, the entire A side of “2112” was inspired by Ayn Rand’s Anthem.
You Belong To Me, by The Duprees (assuming the pyramids are works of art)
Michaelangelo, by Emmy Lou Harris
Jacob Epstein’s sculpture Rock Drill [the second image is Torso in Metal from Rock Drlll, which I trust that thieving bastard George Lucas knows well} was the subject of the Chemical Brothers’ The Rock Drill: it was actually composed for an exhibition at the Tate Gallery. Mind you, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band got there first…
