Picasso, Pablo – Musical Instruments Hermitage ~ part 09

This painting, Musical Instruments by Pablo Picasso, is a prime example of Synthetic Cubism. The canvas, which is oval in shape, is filled with fragmented and overlapping geometric forms in muted colors.

What is seen:

The most prominent elements are musical instruments, primarily a guitar and a violin, though they are rendered in a highly abstract and fragmented manner. We can discern the characteristic curves of a violin body and the fretboard of a guitar. There are also hints of sheet music, depicted as lines and dots, suggesting a musical context. The composition is a dense arrangement of planes and shapes, creating a sense of depth and complexity. Colors are predominantly earthy tones of brown, beige, and gray, with accents of pink, green, and blue.

Subtexts:

• The Deconstruction of Reality: Picasso, through Cubism, aimed to represent subjects from multiple viewpoints simultaneously, breaking away from traditional single-perspective representation. Here, the instruments are not depicted as they would be seen from one angle but as a composite of various perspectives and fragments, challenging the viewers perception of reality.
• The Interplay of Art Forms: The painting directly references music through its subject matter. The inclusion of sheet music reinforces this connection. This can be seen as an exploration of the relationship between visual art and music, where both deal with rhythm, harmony, and composition, albeit through different mediums.
• The Materiality of Objects: In Synthetic Cubism, Picasso often incorporated real materials or simulated textures. We can see what appears to be a patterned wallpaper in the upper left, adding a tactile element and hinting at the domestic or studio environment where these instruments might be found.
• The Essence of the Subject: By breaking down the instruments into their fundamental shapes and forms, Picasso sought to reveal their underlying structure and essence, rather than just their superficial appearance. This can be interpreted as a move towards a more conceptual understanding of the subject matter.
• The Objecthood of the Artwork: The fragmented nature of the painting, along with the implied textures, draws attention to the painting as an object in its own right, a constructed form composed of paint and canvas, rather than a mere window to another reality.