Philip Guston

(American, 1913–1980)

Philip Guston was an iconic American painter whose works transitioned from Abstract Expressionism into an idiosyncratic lexicon of painterly forms and a cartoonish figures. “The painting is not on a surface, but on a plane which is imagined,” he once reflected. “It moves in a mind. It is not there physically at all. It is an illusion, a piece of magic, so that what you see is not what you see.” Born Philip Goldstein on June 27, 1913 in Montreal, Canada to Ukranian-Jewish immigrant parents, he grew up in California, where he attended the Los Angeles Manual Arts High School with Jackson Pollock. Moving to New York, Guston was enrolled in the Works Progress Administration during the 1930s, where he produced works inspired by the Mexican Muralists and Italian Renaissance paintings. He went on to become an integral part of the city’s art scene in the 1950s, alongside Willem de Kooning and his former classmate Pollock. Guston famously abandoned the success and dialogue he had with abstraction in the late 1960s, resulting in the loss of his gallery representation and virulent scorn from critics. However, it is the artist’s late work that has proven to be his most lasting contribution to art history. Featuring recurring imagery such as hooded Klansmen, Richard Nixon, smoldering cigarettes, and huge eyeballs, works such as In the Studio (1975), influenced generations of painters and established Guston in the canon of 20th-century art. He died on June 7, 1980 in Woodstock, NY. Today, the artist's works can be found in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Tate Gallery in London, among others.
Philip Guston (20 results)
The Bell, 1952

Philip Guston

The Bell, 1952

Sotheby's New York

Est. 6,000,000–8,000,000 USD

Untitled, 1974

Philip Guston

Untitled, 1974

Sotheby's New York

Est. 120,000–180,000 USD

Untitled, 1970

Philip Guston

Untitled, 1970

Sotheby's New York

Est. 500,000–700,000 USD

Pile Up, 1980

Philip Guston

Pile Up, 1980

Shapero Modern

7,500 GBP

Untitled, 1964

Philip Guston

Untitled, 1964

ARCHEUS / POST-MODERN

Price on Request

Studio Forms., 1980

Philip Guston

Studio Forms., 1980

Seraphin Gallery

Price on Request

Rug, 1980

Philip Guston

Rug, 1980

Timothy Taylor

Price on Request

East Side, 1980

Philip Guston

East Side, 1980

Timothy Taylor

Price on Request

Back View II, 1978

Philip Guston

Back View II, 1978

Hauser & Wirth

Price on Request

Blackboard, 1969

Philip Guston

Blackboard, 1969

Hauser & Wirth

Price on Request

Untitled, 1970

Philip Guston

Untitled, 1970

Berggruen Gallery

Price on Request

Crescent, 1976

Philip Guston

Crescent, 1976

Hauser & Wirth

Price on Request

Alone, 1970

Philip Guston

Alone, 1970

Hauser & Wirth

Price on Request

Summer, 1980

Philip Guston

Summer, 1980

Upsilon Gallery

Price on Request

Sky, 1983

Philip Guston

Sky, 1983

Upsilon Gallery

Price on Request

Elements, 1980

Philip Guston

Elements, 1980

Berggruen Gallery

Price on Request

Last Piece, 1958

Philip Guston

Last Piece, 1958

Hauser & Wirth

Not for Sale