Sometime between October and December 1912, Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) made a guitar. He had painted guitars and people playeing guitars, but never created a sculpture of one before. Made from cardboard, paper, string, and wire, materials that he cut, folded, threaded, and glued, Picasso’s silent instrument resembled no sculpture ever seen before. His Guitar (now owned by MoMA) began a period of material and structural experimentation in Picasso’s work.
Unlike Picasso the painter, Picasso the sculptor was self-taught — there were no boundaries, and also not much technique at first. He worked fast in short productive spurts, always striding forward.
Go here for 10 amazing facts about Pablo Picasso.
Picasso’s sculptural works were very intuitive, making imaginative use of whatever he found around him – humble elements and found objects became incredible sculputres.
Make sure to watch the incredible video produced by
MOMA (Museum Of Modern Art in New York) about how Picasso’s original cardboard sculpture was put together and check out
PARTS OF THE GUITAR before continuing on with the 2 part videos below.
Watch PART 2 below, to see how I made my cardboard guitar and to give you some ideas of how to build your own.