David Smith painted Cello Player as if musician and instrument are blended. The figure’s head assumes the shape of a cello bridge fixed with interlocking pegs. His right thumb transforms into the instrument’s fingerboard and his left arm into strings, which in turn morph into spidery fingers. In fusing the forms of the musician and his cello, Smith asserts their perfect harmony.

The artist’s merging of angular, pronged, and curved shapes evokes the intense poses of a performing cellist. Contemporary photographs of cello masters posing with their long, strong fingers on their instruments likely inspired Smith’s painting.