ticketsMember | Make a donation

Clarinet in Bb

Patti Smith American
1970s
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Patti Smith is an influential poet, performer, and songwriter, and was at the forefront of the punk movement in the 1970s. This clarinet was a gift from her late husband, musician Fred Sonic Smith, in 1977. Smith, who has a distinctively abstract improvisational style on the instrument, has used it extensively in performance and recordings including Wave, Banga, and Higher Learning.

Technical Description:

17 keys, six rings, silver plated keys

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Clarinet in Bb
  • Artist: Henri Selmer (Paris)
  • Artist: Patti Smith (American, born Chicago, Illinois, 1946)
  • Date: 1970s
  • Medium: Grenadilla wood, nickel-silver, cork, felt
  • Dimensions: Length: 23 2/3 in. (60 cm)
    Weight: ~1-3 lbs.
  • Classification: Aerophone-Reed Vibrated-single reed cylindrical
  • Credit Line: Courtesy of Patti Smith
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments