In this evocative self-portrait, Guston appears huddled beneath a thin red blanket that emphasizes the contours of his bony knees and legs. His head is buried in a pillow, his arms wrapped around his body in a protective gesture. With this and the dense black field that dislocates the body from space and time, the viewer is invited to imagine what dreams—or nightmares—might haunt the artist’s unconscious. Sleeping is a nod to one of the artist’s favorite paintings, Andrea Mantegna’s poignant Lamentation over the Dead Christ (ca. 1483), which similarly features a radically foreshortened body whose feet are flush with the picture plane, creating a sense of spatial proximity to viewers.
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the artist, Woodstock, N. Y. (1977–d. 1980); his widow, Musa Guston, Woodstock, N. Y. (1980–d. 1992); their daughter, Musa Guston Mayer, New York (from 1992; her promised gift to MMA)
Dublin. Royal Hibernian Academy. "I Not I: Samuel Beckett, Philip Guston, Bruce Nauman," March 24–May 1, 2006, unnumbered cat. (p. 36).
Melbourne. National Gallery of Victoria. "Philip Guston: The Late Works," August 18–September 16, 1984, no. 24.
Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. "Philip Guston: The Late Works," September 27–October 28, 1984, no. 24.
Sydney. Art Gallery of New South Wales. "Philip Guston: The Late Works," November 8–December 30, 1984, no. 24.
Madrid. Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. "Philip Guston: Retrospectiva de Pintura," March 1–May 8, 1989, no. 54.
Barcelona. Palau de la Virreina. "Philip Guston: Retrospectiva de Pintura," May 25–July 16, 1989, no. 54.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Philip Guston: 50 Years of Painting," September 9–October 22, 1989, no. 54.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Philip Guston: 50 Years of Painting," November 19, 1989–January 14, 1990, no. 54.
New York. Museum of Modern Art. "High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture," October 7, 1990–January 15, 1991, unnumbered cat. (p. 224).
Art Institute of Chicago. "High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture," February 20–May 12, 1991, unnumbered cat.
Los Angeles. Museum of Contemporary Art. "High and Low: Modern Art, Popular Culture," June 21–September 15, 1991, unnumbered cat.
Boston University Art Gallery. "Philip Guston 1975-1980: Private and Public Battles," September 17–October 30, 1994, unnumbered cat. (pl. 4).
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "Philip Guston: Paintings of Four Decades," May 12–July 30, 2000, unnumbered cat.
Paris. Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou. "Philip Guston Peintures 1947–1979," September 13–December 4, 2000, unnumbered cat. (p. 75).
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. "Philip Guston Retrospective," March 30–June 8, 2003, unnumbered cat. (pl. 107).
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "Philip Guston Retrospective," June 28–September 27, 2003, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Philip Guston Retrospective," October 28, 2003–January 4, 2004, unnumbered cat.
London. Royal Academy of Arts. "Philip Guston Retrospective," January 24–April 12, 2004, unnumbered cat.
La Biennale di Venezia. "51st International Art Exhibition Venice Biennial—Always a little further (The Experience of Art)," June 12–November 6, 2005.
Los Angeles. Hammer Museum. "Oranges and Sardines: Conversations on Abstract Painting," November 9, 2008–February 9, 2009, unnumbered cat. (p. 73).
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. "Philip Guston: Das große Spätwerk / Late Works," November 6, 2013–February 2, 2014, unnumbered cat. (p. 53).
Hamburg. Deichtorhallen. "Philip Guston Late Works," February 22–May 25, 2014, unnumbered cat.
Humlebaek. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. "Philip Guston Late Works," June 4–September 7, 2014, unnumbered cat.
Venice. Gallerie dell'Accademia. "Philip Guston and the Poets," May 10–September 3, 2017, unnumbered cat. (p. 100).
New York. Hauser & Wirth. "Philip Guston, 1969–1979," September 9–October 30, 2021, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Philip Guston: What Kind of Man Am I?," May 25–August 1, 2023, no catalogue (lent by Musa Guston Mayer).
Robert Storr. Philip Guston. New York, 1986, ill. back cover (color).
Tony Godfrey. The New Image: Painting in the 1980s. New York, 1986, p. 121, colorpl. 102.
Musa Mayer. Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston by His Daughter. New York, 1988, p. 131.
Horacio Fernandez. "El Último Perplejo." El Europeo (March 1989), ill. p. 73 (color).
F[rancisco]. Calvo Serraller. "Abierta en Madrid una retrospectiva de Guston: En Centro Reina Sofia expone 70 obras del artista que paso del expresionismo
abstracto a la figuracion." El País (Madrid) (March 2, 1989).
Julián Gállego. "El gusto de Guston." ABC (Madrid) (March 2, 1989).
Iñaki Moreno Ruiz de Eguino. "La primera retrospectiva europea de Philip Guston, en Madrid." Diario Vasco (San Sebastián) (March 11, 1989).
Kirk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnik. High and Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York. New York, 1990, p. 223, fig. 111 (color).
Miles Unger. "Philip Guston: Wrestling with the Past." Art New England 16 (December 1994/January 1995), pp. 32–34, 71, ill.
Cate McQuaid. "Battleground: How Philip Guston Fought the War to Create Art." Boston Phoenix (September 23, 1994), section Arts & Entertainment, p. 11.
Nancy Stapen. "Painting as Salvation: Philip Guston Exhibit at Boston University Offers Profound Rewards." Boston Sunday Globe (October 2, 1994), pp. B1, B6.
Jon Imber. "Philip Guston: Teacher, Mentor, and Friend." Art New England (December 1994–January 1995), p. 33.
María de Corral. Picasso, Guston, Miro, de Kooning: In vollkommener Freiheit. Ed. Hanne Zech. Exh. cat., Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen. Munich, 1996, ill. p. 86.
David Anfam. "Bonn, Philip Guston." Burlington Magazine 141 (December 1999), p. 768, fig. 72 (color).
Thomas Kliemann. "Ein Mandarin will Tölpel sein." General-Anzeiger (Bonn) (September 2, 1999), ill.
Amine Haase. "Die Gewalt der lesbaren Bilder: Spektakulär Deutschland-Premiere des amerikanischen Malers Philip Guston." Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (Cologne) (September 2, 1999), ill.
"Hommage an Philip Guston." Bonner Rundschau (Bonn) (September 2, 1999), ill.
Heidrun Wirth. "Die Schuhsohlen des Exzentrikers: Das Kunstmuseum Bonn würdigt den amerikanischen Künstlers Philip Guston mit einer
umfangreichen Ausstellung." Westfälische Rundschau (Dortmund, DE) (September 4, 1999), ill.
Heidrun Wirth. "Unberechenbares Dickicht der Nacht: Das Bonner Kunstmuseum entdeckt den Amerikaner Philip Guston neu." Donaukurier (Ingolstadt, DE) (September 4–5, 1999), ill.
Holger Liebs. "Der Untergeher: Der Traum der Abstraktion gebiert Ungeheuer: Philip Guston im Bonner Kunstmuseum." Süddeutsche Zeitung (Munich) (September 29, 1999), ill.
Ursula Bode. "Zweifel als Form: Der amerikanische Maler Philip Guston im Kunstmuseum Bonn." Die Zeit (Hamburg) (October 14, 1999), ill.
Christoph Bannat. "Heimlicher Vater, Tabubruch: Philip Guston kehrte von der Abstraktion zuruk zur Figur." Vogue (Berlin) (February 2000), ill. p. 154.
Sarah Milroy. "I Was Feeling Split, Schizophrenic." National Post (May 17, 2000), pp. B6–B7, ill. (color).
Christoph Schreier et al. Philip Guston Tableaux / Paintings 1947–1979. Exh. cat., Kunstmuseum Bonn. Ostfildern, 2000, p. 23, ill. p. 117 (color).
David Anfam. "Preview, Winter 2003: Philip Guston, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth." Artforum 41 (January 2003), ill. p. 50 (color).
Gaile Robinson. "Cartoons with Conscience: The Modern's First Special Exhibit Sheds Light on the Dark, Fantastical Vision of Painter Philip Guston/An
Eye for Anguish: Modern's Exhibit Gives Philip Guston a Rare Turn in the Spotlight." Fort Worth Star-Telegram (March 28–April 3, 2003), section Star Time, pp. 36–37, ill. front page of section (color).
Jaclyn Gonzales. "Modern Exhibits Disheartened Artist." Rambler (Fort Worth) (April 9, 2003), p. 8, ill.
Tucker Nichols. "Philip Guston Made Me Do It.' Philip Guston Retrospective, SFMOMA June 28–September 28, 2003." stretcher.org. September 2, 2003, ill. (color).
William Corbett. "Philip Guston in Retrospect." brooklynrail.org. November 2003.
"Philip Guston: Abstract Expressionism's Provocative Pioneer and Ultimate Critic." USA Today (West Babylon, NY) (November 1, 2003).
Philip Roth. "Pictures of Guston." Modern Painters (Fall 2003), pp. 68–71, ill. (color).
Philip Roth. "The Odd Couple." Sunday Telegraph Magazine (January 4, 2004), pp. 16–19, ill. (color).
Sean O'Hagan. "An Everyday Genius. Philip Roth's Friend, the Artist Philip Guston, Was a Star of the Sixties Who Risked His Reputation to Pursue a New
Creative Vision. Now, 30 Years On, He Is Back in Vogue with a Retrospective at the RA." Observer Review (London) (January 11, 2004), ill. p. 5 (color).
Boris Hohmeyer. "Die Entdeckung der Wirklichkeit." Art: Das Kunstmagazin (March 2007), pp. 26–35, ill. (color).
Manuel Botelho. Guston em contexto: até ao regresso da figura. Lisbon, 2007, ill. p. 143 (color).
David Kaufmann. Telling Stories: Philip Guston's Later Works. Berkeley, 2010, pp. 49, 69.
Barbara Hess. "Philip Guston." Modern Art: Volume 2, 1945–2000. Ed. Hans Werner Holzwarth and Laszlo Taschen. Cologne, 2011, ill. p. 422 (color).
Lee Beard et al. The Art Book. 2nd ed. (1st ed., 1994). New York, 2012, ill. p. 239 (color).
Ingrid Pfeiffer inPhilip Guston: Das Grosse Spätwerk/Late Works. Ed. Ingrid Pfeiffer and Max Hollein. Exh. cat., Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. Cologne, 2013, pp. 22–23, ill. p. 53 (color).
Dion. "Philip Guston at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt." Art News Blog. October 23, 2013, ill. (color).
"Philip Guston Late Works at Schirn Kunsthalle." (n d ks). November 2013, ill. (color).
Barbara Casavecchia. "57th Venice Biennale, 'Viva Arte Viva'." art-agenda.com. May 13, 2017, ill. (color, installation photo).
Kerstin Stremmel. "Seine Radikalität war schuld." nzz.ch. July 7, 2017, ill. (color).
"Philip Guston and the Poets at Gallerie dell'Accademia di Venezia, May 10–September 3, 2017." artssummary.com. May 13, 2017, ill. (color).
Kat Herriman. "An Iconic American Painter, Re-examined Through Poetry." New York Times Style Magazine [nytimes.com]. May 16, 2017, illus. in related slideshow attached to article.
Stefano Castelli. "Philip Guston e i poeti, retrospettiva tematica di un grande pittore." Arte (June 2017), ill. (color, installation photo).
Barbara Hess. Abstract Expressionism. Reprint (1st ed., 2005). Cologne, 2019, ill. p. 40 (color).
Robert Storr. Philip Guston: A Life Spent Painting. London, 2020, p. 165, no. 175, ill. p. 169 (color).
Vivian Chui. "Philip Guston's Most Controversial Decade of Work." ocula.com. September 22, 2021, ill. (color) and ill. (color, installation photo).
Ilana Novick. "Controversial Philip Guston Paintings at Hauser & Wirth." artandobject.com. October 4, 2021.
Mira Schor. "Philip Guston." 4columns.org. October 22, 2021.
Roberta Smith. "After the Storm, Philip Guston for Real." New York Times (September 10, 2021), p. C10, ill. (color, installation photo).
John Yau. "Philip Guston's Unblinking Eye." hyperallergic.com. September 30, 2021.
Jackson Arn. "The Mysterious Mr. Guston." airmail.news. September 4, 2021, ill. (color).
Eli Anapur. "The Breakthrough Figuration of Philip Guston Explored at Hauser & Wirth." Whitewalls. September 8, 2021, ill. (color).
The Guston Foundation, ed. Catalogue Raisonné. Online resource [gustoncrllc.org/home/catalogue_raisonne], 2024 (accessed), no. P77.008, ill. (color).
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