ticketsMember | Make a donation

Painting

Philip Guston American, born Canada
1952
Not on view
After the Second World War, Guston taught in Iowa and Missouri, took a fellowship in Rome, and settled in Manhattan in 1950. Although he belongs to the first generation of Abstract Expressionists, his abstract style coalesced around 1951. Although critics were quick to compare him to de Kooning and Still, Guston’s early work lacked the violence seen among his colleagues. Instead, he produced delicate pictures, seemingly spontaneous, but carefully and organically structured, like Mondrian’s Pier and Ocean series painted with Cézanne’s constructive stroke. When this painting was shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1956, the critic Leo Steinberg characterized it as “the afterimage of a flower garden fading on the inside of closed [eye]lids.”

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Painting
  • Artist: Philip Guston (American (born Canada), Montreal 1913–1980 Woodstock, New York)
  • Date: 1952
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 48 × 51 in. (121.9 × 129.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006
  • Object Number: 2006.32.25
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Estate of Philip Guston
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
#5, Philip Guston American, born Canada, Oil on canvas

5

Philip Guston
1952
Portrait of my Mother, Philip Guston American, born Canada, Oil on canvas
Portrait of my Mother
Philip Guston
1931
Stretchers, Philip Guston American, born Canada, Oil on canvas
Stretchers
Philip Guston
1979
Drawing 1960, Philip Guston American, born Canada, Brush and black ink on paper
Drawing 1960
Philip Guston
1960
Stationary Figure, Philip Guston American, born Canada, Oil on canvas
Stationary Figure
Philip Guston
1973

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.