G. B. Guadagnini

Through the Eyes of a Modern Maker
An exhibit of violins and violas by Douglas Cox

Stamell Strings, Amherst, MA June 3-28
Wine & Cheese Opening, June 5, 5pm
18 Kellogg Ave., Amherst, MA
(413) 256-0936 • info@stamellstring.com

Cox Violin #803, “Franzetti” Guadagnini 1742

Modern makers have always looked to their predecessors for inspiration and solutions. G.B. Guadagnini is not the first of these to be looked to by contemporary makers as he is usually considered a second tier maker, and his work has a great deal of variation and inconsistency. This exhibit explores Guadagnini’s development as interpreted through the lens of my experience.

While it is not clear that Guadagnini had experience working with any top tier makers — his claim on his labels notwithstanding — he certainly had his own genius and was soaking up information from some of the best sources available to his generation. This makes the evolution of his work valuable for its insights, and of interest to modern makers because of the similarity of his working environment to our own. The recent publication of a large-scale book cataloging the 2011 Parma exhibition inspired me to revisit what Guadagnini has to inspire and teach, with the benefit of insight from 40 years experience.

I hope you will find this exhibit interesting as an exploration of how makers evolve and influence each other, even over the distance of several centuries.

Information is available at Stamell Strings and at Cox Violins websites.