The Guitar: “Statue d’Épouvante”

1913

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

It is often the case with trompe l’oeil typography that words inside an artwork make inside commentary about art. Here, sculpture, music, film, drawing, and collage are brought together in “concert” to play a recurring theme, or “rondo.” Braque undoubtedly saved the program from the Tivoli Cinema because of the suggestive titles of the three “représentations” (screenings). Éclair-Journal, or “illuminated newspaper,” was a weekly cinematic newsreel. “Timbre rare” (rare tone) suggests the sound of the guitar and perhaps also Braque’s silvery strokes. The plot of Statue d’Épouvante (Horrific Statue) revolved around a sculptor seeking to avenge his daughter’s death; yet the words can also be read as the artist’s expression of mock horror at traditional forms of sculpture.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: The Guitar: “Statue d’Épouvante”
Artist: Georges Braque (French, Argenteuil 1882–1963 Paris)
Date: 1913
Medium: Cut-and-pasted laid, wove, and printed papers, printed wallpapers, charcoal, and gouache on canvas
Dimensions: 28 3/4 × 39 3/8 in. (73 × 100 cm)
Classification: Collages
Credit Line: Musée National Picasso-Paris, Dation Jacqueline Picasso, 1990. Personal collection of Pablo Picasso (MP 1990-381)
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art