In 1906, Pablo Curatella Manes and his family moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina in order for him to begin his training as a sculptor under Arturo Dresco. Here he met some of the young painters and intellectuals of the day and he would then enrol in the Academy there, but by 1911 he had travelled to Florence. After working persistently, Manes then travelled throughout Europe, visiting museums in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria and many others on a government grant.

After this improvised grand tour of Europe, Manes stayed in Paris and worked under Aristide Maillol, travelling back and forth between Paris and Argentina. By 1920, he settled in Paris and struck up a friendship with painters such as André Lhote, Juan Gris, Fernand Léger, and Albert Gleizes, as well as the sculptors Henri Laurens and Constantin Brancusi.

Manes was one of many Argentine artists to live in Europe surrounded by the avant-garde. His interest in both Renaissance art and Cubism allowed Manes to develop his own artistic voice. In The Guitar Player, the figure is created by stacked geometric forms—detail is reserved for the instrument and the man’s delicately carved fingers. The sculpture balances classical unity, abstraction, and figuration. The heavy material of granite gives the sculpture balance and a sense of gravity.

In 1922, he married a French painter. Inspired by Gris, he began to make figures such as The Accordionist and The Guitar Player. By 1925, he was invited to collaborate on the esplanade of Les Invalides for the Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes; he would also win a silver medal in the exhibition. He was also appointed the Argentine ambassador to France, putting his artistic career briefly on hold.

By the 1930s, Manes was winning prizes with the Sálon Nacional and working as an advisor to the General Commissioner of the Argentine Pavilion at the Paris Universal International Exhibitions, for which he also created two reliefs. During the Second World War, he was responsible for repatriating Argentine residents of France. Due to the shortage of materials during this time, he made models from available items: cardboard, plastic, metal and sketches. In the later years of his life, he took part in Biennials in Venice and Sao Paolo and prepared reliefs for the Teatro General San Martín. His work was also accepted into the collections of the City of Paris Musée d’Art moderne and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires.