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Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York
[adapted from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 68, no. 3 (Winter, 2011)]

Dobney, Jayson Kerr (2011)

This title is out of print.

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (6)
Exhibition
Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York

New York City and nearby New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester County have been home to a vibrant Italian American population since the late nineteenth century. Within this community, a remarkable tradition of lutherie (stringed-instrument making) has flourished. Italian American craftsmen have produced an enormous variety of musical instruments, from traditional European-style violins, mandolins, and guitars to newer American instruments such as archtop guitars and mandolins and even electric guitars. Since the 1930s, makers from this tradition in the New York region have become especially well known for their extraordinary archtop guitars. This exhibition examines the work of three remarkable craftsmen from this heritage—John D'Angelico, James D'Aquisto, and John Monteleone—their place in the extended context of Italian and Italian American instrument making, and the inspiration of the sights and sounds of New York City.