Philip Guston

Philip Guston 1913-80, American painter, b. Montreal. Guston emigrated to the United States in 1916. His earliest role models as an artist were such Mexican muralists as José Orozco and David Siqueiros ; he later made nonobjective murals with Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning . His sensitivity to the relationships of masses of color on canvas caused some critics to call him an "abstract impressionist." He was, however, intimately associated with abstract expressionism , and during the 1950s and 60s painted some of the most lyrical works connected with that movement. The Painter's City (1956) is a well-known work. During the latter part of his life, from the late 1960s on, Guston's work changed startlingly. His new paintings, which shockingly departed from his previous refinement, were figurative and strange—nightmarishly cartoonish in image, blunt in approach, and often charged with social consciousness.

Bibliography: See studies by D. Ashton (1976) and M. Auping, ed. (2003).

Guston, Philip (b Montreal, 27 June 1913; d Woodstock, NY, 7 June 1980). American painter. After travelling in Mexico in 1934, studying the work of Orozco and Rivera in particular, he settled in New York and from 1934 to 1941 worked as a muralist on the Federal Art Project. In 1941 he moved to lowa City to teach at the State University there, and from 1945 to 1947 he was artist-in-residence at Washington University, St Louis. After leaving New York he switched from mural to easel painting, and during the 1940s his work changed in another fundamental way, moving from social and political subjects to abstraction; by 1950 (when, after travels in Europe, he settled in New York again) he had eliminated all figurative elements from his work. His most characteristic paintings feature luminous patches of overlapping colours delicately brushed in the central area of a canvas of light background (Dial, 1956, Whitney Mus., New York). This manner of his has been described as ‘Abstract Impressionism’ and he was associated with the more lyrical wing of Abstract Expressionism—he was the only member of the group who had already had a successful career as a figurative painter. During the 1960s shades of grey encroached on the earlier brilliant colours and vague naturalistic associations crept in, until in the 1970s he returned to figurative painting in a satirical, garishly coloured, cartoon-like style that has been seen as the source of New Image Painting. His subjects in this manner included scenes of fantastic social comment, involving, for example, the Ku Klux Klan.

Guston, Philip (1913–80). American painter. After travelling in Mexico in 1934, studying the work of Orozco and Rivera in particular, he settled in New York and from 1934 to 1941 worked as a muralist on the Federal Art Project. In 1941 he moved to lowa City to teach at the State University there, and from 1945 to 1947 he was artist-in-residence at Washington University, St Louis. After leaving New York he switched from mural to easel painting, and during the 1940s his work changed in another fundamental way, moving from social and political subjects to abstraction; by 1950 (when, after travels in Europe, he settled in New York again) he had eliminated all figurative elements from his work. His most characteristic paintings feature luminous patches of overlapping colours delicately brushed in the central area of a canvas of light background (Dial, 1956, Whitney Mus., New York). This manner of his has been described as ‘Abstract Impressionism’ and he was associated with the more lyrical wing of Abstract Expressionism—he was the only member of the group who had already had a successful career as a figurative painter. During the 1960s shades of grey encroached on the earlier brilliant colours and vague naturalistic associations crept in, until in the 1970s he returned to figurative painting in a satirical, garishly coloured, cartoon-like style that has been seen as the source of New Image Painting. His works in this manner included scenes of fantastic social comment, involving, for example, the Ku Klux Klan.