Museum pieces

[Seamas]

Saturday I went with the family to the Metropolitan Museum of art.
While there we checked out the musical instrument section, which has apparently been re-installed.
It's more expansive than i remembered (and it has always been good), the display of the various fanciful horns and other brass instruments, imho is a highlight.

From what I recall, they have greatly expanded their guitar section.
A very nice display of the evolution of the guitar through the ages with some very beautiful and ornate baroque guitar-like instruments.

They also have some cool things like the Frying pan by Rickenbacher and a host of really outstanding archtop guitars (most come from the NYC and surrounding area, which was long a hotbed of highly skilled and creative  archtop luthiers).
They had three that were made in the last decade or so that were just exquisite.

Now one thing I found odd was that while they had some three or four Martins, almost all of them were from 1900 or earlier, which in my mind would need maybe one example. They are definitely missing the guitars they made that REALLY made a mark on the industry, especially their D-28 or the more ornate variants of it.

Also: I think a standard Stratocaster was sorely missing.
While just about any other solid body could fill the spot of "electric guitar" in such an exhibit, I think the Strat exemplifies a certain bit of mid century industrial design--where the form and function are married so seamlessly--a hallmark of that era.
It screams space-age modern consumer product in just about all senses of the terms -It almost seems odd that they are still popular today as they look like they would fit right in with one of those liver-shaped coffee tables you only see in retro/hipster consignment shops.

 

[Cagey]

Good points, but then where do you stop? Teles were the original Fender offering that's survived and thrived though the ages for similar reasons, and Les Pauls are simply iconic, and you don't have to go far at all to get to the point where you need another museum or vastly expanded exhibit.

 

[Seamas]

Good points, but then where do you stop? Teles were the original Fender offering that's survived and thrived though the ages for similar reasons, and Les Pauls are simply iconic, and you don't have to go far at all to get to the point where you need another museum or vastly expanded exhibit.

Oh I agree in regard to "where do you stop".
Like I said they could have limited some of the pre-1900 Martins--(plus they had other examples of the German and German American guitars of which those early Martins  are derived)

I was thinking of the Tele as well, but thought the Strat had more cross-over for the relation to how it fits to the broader realm of mid-century design.
They did have a few oddball choices, like  something that looked a bit like one of those weird Italian electrics from the '60s.

And yes,  a Les Paul could fit--though while it did become an icon eventually, it was not really a success (of that icon status) until several years after it was discontinued. While I do like their look, in the context of its time it wasn't all that in pace  as far as the art / design world.

Of course, part of my post was to perhaps see what people thought would be the top-tier guitars they would think they should see in an art museum (as opposed to a rock n roll museum or a guitar museum)

 

[ghotiphry]

My two cents, from a pure art form, this...  I've always found the beauty in LPs above the cut.