Philip Guston: abstract expressionism's provocative pioneer and ultimate critic.

• Position: Museum Today - Biography

BEGINNING with his childhood fascination with popular American comic strips; through mural painting laden with political imagery; to easel painting and a burgeoning interest in, advancement of, and ultimate disenchantment with Abstract Expressionism; through his invention of a highly controversial figurative mode of painting and drawing that influenced younger artists, Philip Guston (1913-80) courageously changed styles according to his beliefs and in response to social and political issues of the day.

"Philip Guston ... reflects influences ranging from the great Italian quattrocento masters Piero della Francesca and Paolo Uccello, to [Jean-Antoine] Watteau, to the early 20th-century works of [Giorgio] de Chirico, [Pablo] Picasso, and [Piet] Mondrian, as well as the popular American cartoon," notes Philippe de Montebello, director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. "Guston's particular genius was in mediating such seemingly diverse traditions, and, with fluent brushstrokes that speak to the artist's hand and brilliant color, creating works that vigorously defied conventions. He was a compelling figure who charted a course that was often contradictory, yet always courageous from an aesthetic and theoretical standpoint."

Highlights of his career include the "Drawing for Conspirators" (1930)--the artist's first reaction to the cruelties of the Ku Klux Klan--the tondo "Bombardment" (c. 1937-38) and "The Tormentors" (1947-48), which, together with "White Painting" (1951), documents Guston's transition from Symbolic Realism into abstraction. Works that richly demonstrate Guston's personal interpretation of the Abstract Expressionist movement include "Zone" (1953-54), "Painting" (1954), and "To Fellini" (1958) and other nuanced works. Following a group of transitional drawings and paintings of the 1960s, "Edge of Town," "The Law," and "The Studio"--all from 1969--and "Courtroom" (1970) incorporate Klan imagery used both to comment on political issues of the day and to represent the artist surrounded by common artifacts. These were first seen in Guston's controversial 1970 Marlborough Gallery exhibition in New York. "Painting, Smoking, Eating" (1973), "Wharf" (1976), the powerful battle scene "The Street" (1977), and "Talking" (1979), further display Guston's autobiographical symbolism. Moreover, his painting, "San Clemente" (1975), depicting Pres. Richard Nixon, illustrates the artist's frustration with American politics during the late...