Hardcover, 9"x12", 264 pages
Authors: Leo G. Mazow (VMFA), with additional essays by Philip J. Deloria (Harvard University) and Jayson Kerr Dobney (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art, organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, is the first exhibition to explore the instrument’s symbolism in American art from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Featuring approximately 130 works of art and 35 musical instruments, the exhibition demonstrates that guitars figure prominently in the visual stories Americans tell themselves about themselves—their histories, identities, and aspirations. The accompanying fully-illustrated catalogue positions the guitar within a nexus of art, music, literature, and cultural histories.