As requested, here are some photos of the exhibit Early American Guitars: The Instruments of C.F. Martin, showing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through December 7, 2014.
This is dedicated to those who will be unable to come to New York City to see the exhibit.
Please see our exclusive review of the opening night reception HERE.
Click on photos for larger versions
C.F. Martin at the Met Museum
The Met recognized the artistry of Martin’s unique aesthetic, and the craftsmanship that made his guitars highly sought after from the moment he went into business in New York City in 1933. He brought his family from Saxony, where the guild system was restricting innovation and the freedom of artisans to make whatever they wished.
By the 1840s, Martin had moved his family to a German community near Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and then into Nazareth proper. Through experimentation, which borrowed ideas and forms from both the Viennese school of luthier and Spanish builders from the area around Cadiz, Martin came up with unique ways of applying bracing under the soundboard that ultimately gave rise to the modern flattop acoustic guitar.
Martin Guitars is one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the USA, and the oldest with more than 500 employees. They continue to make premium guitars that are cherished by professionals and enthusiasts alike.
Although invented for small guitars with gut strings intended for classical music, variations of C.F. Martin’s original X-bracing pattern can be found on almost all steel-string guitars today. And the guitar designs from the era of his grandson Frank Henry Martin, like the Orchestra Model and the Dreadnought are the most copied style of guitars in the world.