Guitar on pedestal 1920

Editor: This is "Guitar on pedestal" painted by Pablo Picasso in 1920. It is currently unframed. At first glance, it feels like a puzzle, almost daring you to figure out what’s going on in the composition. It has so many geometric shapes. What catches your eye most about this work? Curator: You know, when I look at this, I'm reminded of wandering through an old music shop, the kind filled with dusty instruments and the lingering echoes of forgotten melodies. Picasso wasn't just painting a guitar, he was trying to capture the *idea* of a guitar, it’s soul you might say. How else do you render silence visible, Editor? Editor: So you're saying he's fragmenting the object to show its essence? But is he commenting on the act of elevating something commonplace – a guitar – onto a pedestal? Curator: Exactly! Think about the irony there – elevating a simple musical instrument to the status of high art. He's asking us what *we* value and why, don't you think? It feels like a joke only Picasso and a handful of others at the time were in on, giggling behind their berets. Doesn’t it just vibrate with hidden music? Editor: I get it now. It is like the artist is elevating an everyday object and challenging our preconceived notions of what is valuable or worthy of artistic representation. Curator: Indeed. I see echoes of conversations here: art, music, the absurd elevated to importance... Maybe it is all noise or music, depending on the listener. Editor: That is such an unexpected idea! Thanks. It makes this piece seem so much more accessible and witty. Curator: And that's the genius, isn’t it? Making us think, feel, and maybe even question what we think we know about the world. Music to my ears, truly.