Focus on The Guitar Player (Greuze) and explain the abstract.
The Guitar Player or The Guitarist is a c. 1757 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Jean-Baptiste Greuze, produced during his stay in Rome. It is now on display in Room VII (part of the Italian and French rooms) at the National Museum, Warsaw (inv. No. M. Ob. 914). It shows a young man tuning a guitar, with hunting accessories in the left background symbolising his being a bird-hunter (a common symbol for a seducer).The work was first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1757 – a second autograph version is now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes, the artist's hometown. Art historians argue that both versions are examples of genre painting, inspired by Dutch art.
National Museum, Warsaw genre painting Musée des Beaux-Arts National Museum Warsaw Jean-Baptiste Greuze Paris Salon