Guston Now

The Canadian-American artist Philip Guston (1913-1980) is one of the twentieth century’s most influential painters. His US retrospective (London, October 2023) will showcase both the changes and consistencies in his art.

Lecture 1       Guston: Early Years
In the 30s Guston was employed by the US government as part of the Works Progress Administration. Under the influence of Mexican mural painters Guston produced a number of politically engaged murals in the US and Mexico that laid the groundwork for his later production.

Lecture 2       Guston: The Abstract Years
This lecture will look at Guston’s nearly two-decade work as an abstract painter in New York, where he was affiliated with fellow artists such as Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning and Joan Mitchell.

Lecture 3       October, 1970
The opening night of Guston’s solo exhibition in October 1970 was the mythic moment of the artist’s late work. This was the beginning of a decade of intense productivity in a somewhat unprecedented cartoonish figurative mode.

Lecture 4       Guston: the Late Years
This lecture will look at Guston’s final decade, including paintings, prints, drawings, and collaborations with modernist American poets. This was the most productive period of his life.