Image: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
View source →Guitar (Sheet Metal Sculpture)
Pablo Picasso, 1914
Technical Details
Medium
Sheet metal and wire
Dimensions
100.1 × 63.7 × 18.4 cm
Style
Cubism / Sculpture
Decade
1910s
About This Work
This revolutionary construction of sheet metal and wire dismantled the traditional concept of sculpture as a solid, carved or modeled mass. By cutting and folding flat metal sheets, Picasso created a three-dimensional object that is essentially a drawing in space. The guitar's sound hole is represented not by a concave depression but by a projecting cylinder — a radical inversion of positive and negative space.
Picasso first conceived the Guitar in cardboard in 1912 before executing this metal version. The work is considered one of the most radical sculptures of the 20th century, directly inspiring the Constructivist sculptures of Tatlin and Gabo and establishing the tradition of constructed sculpture that runs through the entire century.
Current Location
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA
Public Collection — Open to visitors
Visit museum website →Valuation & Provenance
2026 Estimated Value
Priceless / Not for sale
* Estimates are based on comparable auction results and market analysis. Not a formal appraisal.
Last Known Sale
No public auction record — held in permanent museum collection
Keywords
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