Museum exhibit turns guitars into high art

While growing up in Islip, John Monteleone often accompanied his father to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Monteleone's dad, Mario, a sculptor, regularly exposed his son to the arts, including classical piano lessons.

Decades later, when Monteleone learned that several of his handcrafted guitars would be displayed at the Met, he said he was overwhelmed.

"It's beyond belief and a tremendous honor," said Monteleone, 64. "The idea never would have crossed my mind. I had a real reverence for the place as a kid and figured if anyone in my family deserved to be exhibited there, it would have been my father."

Instruments on display

Monteleone's singular creations are on exhibit as part of "Guitar Heroes: Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York," which ends July 4. Besides Monteleone, the exhibition's New York component focuses on John D'Angelico and James D'Aquisto.

The three masters share a devotion to the Art Deco sensibility, with sleek looks and staggered lines inspired by local landmarks like Radio City Music Hall and the New Yorker Hotel.

"We set this up to accentuate how visually stunning these instruments are, letting people walk around them rather than hanging them on the wall," said Jayson Dobney, the show's curator. "Of course, these pieces have to sound fantastic, but they are elevated to a second level, the perfect blend of performance and the visual. This is a high art."

Form and function

D'Aquisto apprenticed at D'Angelico's Manhattan shop before moving to Huntington, Farmingdale and eventually Greenport. He died in 1995. Monteleone visited D'Aquisto's workshop, but developed his own singular style.

"Guitars have to move; there has to be a vibe to them," said Monteleone. "Form and function is something my father impressed upon me. The bottom line is that it has to be a real instrument."

Though he also makes mandolines and violins, Monteleone is best known for his archtop guitars, employed primarily by jazz players. With their curved backs, tops and floating tailpieces (that hold the strings), archtops are akin to violins and cellos even down to the spruce and maple wood used to construct them.

Monteleone began doing restoration and repair work in the mid-1970s, which gave him the confidence that he could support a family with his hands, but he took a big gamble when he began making his own instruments.

Master craftsman

He works alone in the workshop he built in 1989 behind his home in Islip. Power tools are few; he prefers to work by hand as much as possible, carving guitar backs, tops and sides from solid blocks of wood with an economy of motion developed over time.

"Every day is like a brand new day," he said. "I can't wait to get out here."

Monteleone is a perfectionist whose commissioned guitars start at $29,000. He only makes about a dozen a year and few of his works change hands, so his worth in the vintage guitar market is untested.

"It's a luxury to have such a supportive clientele that turns you loose," Monteleone said in his tidy studio. "We'll talk about what they want but they usually end up saying 'who am I to tell you how to build a guitar.' That led to a lot of development in my own style."

Monteleone pioneered the creation of sound holes in the side of the guitar, facing up at the player, the better to hear the instrument's output. He also developed a slanted body shape and sound hole to replicate the shape of a piano's soundboard.

For his so-called Four Seasons series, a quartet of instruments that are on display at the museum, he decorated the inside of the guitars' bodies with pen and ink drawings and inlaid mother of pearl and turquoise figures, which are visible through the top sound holes. Inlaid diamonds inside the autumn and winter instruments represent leaves and stars, respectively.

"It's so great that John is being honored in his lifetime," said Rudy Pensa, a guitar collector and dealer who owns Rudy's Music in Manhattan. "When it comes to workmanship, there's no question that he is the best guitar builder in the world today.

When & Where

Museum hours: Mondays: Closed (except holiday Mondays); Tuesdays-Thursdays: 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays: 9:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m.; Sundays: 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Address: 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd Street; 212-535-7710; TTY: 212-570-3828

Admission: Adults -- $20; Seniors (65 and older) -- $15; Students -- $10*; Children under 12 (accompanied by an adult) -- Free. *Several programs include free admission for students. Check with your school administrator.