Mask
late 19th-early 20th century
Two examples of this rare type of Kru mask were kept on hand in Picasso's studio. He credited them with helping to define his approach to sculpting a cardboard guitar in 1912. As Kru artists made features out of building blocks, so he made a guitar's sound hole out of a projecting cylinder. Many inspired collage constructions were to follow.
Wood, pigment, fiber, nails, twine
17 7/8 x 9 1/4 x 6 5/16 in. (45.4 x 23.5 x 16 cm)
Gift of Katherine White and the Boeing Company
81.17.192
Provenance: [Gallery K, Los Angeles, California]; purchased from gallery by Katherine White (1929-1980), Seattle, Washington, 1977; bequeathed to Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington, 1981