This boldly contoured violin occupies an eccentric space in which each component seems to recede or advance in turn in relation to an adjacent plane or detail. Like the constructed cardboard and sheet metal Guitars, the instrument hangs from a single nail; rendered at upper right, it casts a faint charcoal shadow, and the shapes double as the instrument's tuning knobs. At the center of the composition Picasso delicately smudged the charcoal to reveal the paper's chain lines, products of the papermaking process. These closely spaced parallel indentations, suggesting the violin's strings, lend the work a subtle sense of ready-made texture and relief.
