Harp Guitars: Passion • Imagination • Artistry was a special exhibition showcasing over 30 extremely rare, historic and contemporary instruments representing the creative genius of European and American guitar building tradition from the early 1800s through today. The featured historic instruments comprise much admired and lesser known rarities exemplified by Mozanni (Italy), Settimo Gazzo (Italy), C. H. Klinberg (Sweden), Julius Zimmerman (Russia), Joseph Prisner (Austria), Chris Knutsen (United States), Charles Stumpke (United States), W.J. Dyer & Bros (United States), Larson Brothers (United States), Lyon & Healy (United States) and Gibson (United States) as well as by anonymous examples of harp mandolins, lyre guitars and harp guitars. The contemporary section features the highly acclaimed innovative and imaginative creations of Fred Carlson, William Eaton, Steve Klein, Duane Noble, Linda Manzer and Mike Doolin.

Exhibition Overview

The exhibition explored how the fundamental human capacity for invention led to the creation of the harp guitar, a fascinating and unusual instrument that gained popularity in Europe in the early 1800s and found its way to America in the early 1890s. The harp guitar, an instrument like no other, is a true embodiment of this free inventive spirit, guided by higher artistic ideals. Suggestive of different instruments and influences from other parts of the world, the harp guitar is not easily defined from the point of organology (the study of musical instruments) because of the great variety of its forms and design ideas. This exhibition defines the harp guitar as an extended-range guitar in any of its accepted forms with any number of additional, unstopped strings-beyond the standard six-that can accommodate individual plucking. While the most common harp guitars have unstopped strings supported by an extra arm or attached to the guitar frame, there are a variety of artistic hybrids and related forms that defy systematic classification.

The exhibition related the story of the origin and popularity of this unique instrument, focusing on its three separate and distinct histories...