In this vibrant composition, drawn charcoal lines bounded by margins of bare canvas frame planes of faux bois, faux marbre, and bold colors. To some of the painted areas Picasso added classic indicators of three-dimensionality—such as the dark, smudged "shadows" cast by the central body of the instrument—rendering a fractured but recognizable object in relief. A photograph on display shows an earlier state of the painting, before Picasso reworked passages to arrive at this final composition. With their candy colors and relatively legible subjects, this and the other oval Guitar painting pictured in the photograph mark a sharp stylistic break with the artist's earlier Cubist work and introduce the guitar as a subject of unique focus.
