Search results for ""author philip guston""

Book SynopsisWhen Philip Guston turned to the medium of lithography in the early sixties, he was regarded as one of the leading figures of Abstract Expressionism in the United States. At that time, his art was already showing signs of the change that would lead to the later representational works that dominated the last decade of his career. The impressive series of black-and-white lithographs that Guston made shortly before his death in 1980 incorporates, as a sort of visual autobiography, the complete repertoire of objects that marked his return to powerful pictorial representation: simple everyday items, clocks, shoes, books, cigarettes, ashtrays, and occasionally his beloved sandwiches and cherries. All of these things, taken from the world of the private and intimate, are given a unique vitality by Gusto' s ironic eye and deliberate hand in the soft cadences of the lithographic crayon.

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Book SynopsisPhilip Guston’s legendary, prescient political satire of Richard Nixon In the summer of 1971—two years before the Watergate hearings—Richard Nixon was an incumbent whose grip on power was being tested by the Pentagon Papers. Inspired in part by the work of his friend Philip Roth, who had just finished the novel Our Gang, Philip Guston began drawing the object of his political anger and despair—Richard Nixon, transformed into the character “Poor Richard,” rendered with a distinctively phallic nose and scrotal jowls, and accompanied by henchmen Spiro Agnew, John Mitchell, and Henry Kissinger. Guston carefully sequenced the drawings in 1971 and planned to publish them as a book, even designing an original title page. But he held back, and the images were never released during his lifetime; only in 2001 were they first exhibited, accompanied by a publication of the series from the University of Chicago Press by Debra Bricker Balken. Today, as we face yet another moment of presidential crisis and global turmoil, Poor Richard is more relevant than ever. Poor Richard by Philip Guston brings Guston’s series back into print. Following Guston’s own sequencing, layout and original title page from 1971, Poor Richard by Philip Guston presents this shockingly fresh, delightfully profane series, with beautiful new reproductions. The publication marks the promised gift of these 73 drawings by The Guston Foundation to the National Gallery of Art, where they will be preserved and studied as a monument of contemporary satirical art and virtuoso drawing.Trade ReviewAn acerbic, outraged, frustrated and often hilarious response to then-President Richard Nixon. -- Aruna D'Souza * The New York Times: Arts *Never mind that Guston‘s later “cartoon” paintings are among my favorite period in the oeuvre of my favorite artist, the audacity, wit, and acerbic genius of these sketchbook renderings are richly satisfying on many levels. -- Steven Heller * PRINT *Poor Richard brings together the suite of outrageous, wacky, scatological, anti-Nixon drawings that Guston committed to two spiral-bound notebooks in the privacy of his studio in Woodstock in 1971, and which remained unpublished for 30 years. -- Michael Glover * Hyperallergic *Nixon critics tend to associate his name not just with lying and abuse of power, but also with maudlin sentimentalism and elaborate excuse-making. A half-century later, as we approach the end of the first term of a president who, for many people, has taken these same characteristics to a new and rarefied level, Guston’s Nixon drawings look freshly relevant. -- Sebastian Smee * Washington Post *Philip Guston Now is the catalogue for a traveling exhibition that was supposed to open at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., this summer. Though that may yet happen, what we have for now is a lushly illustrated book with scholarly essays on various aspects of Guston’s work by that exhibition’s four curators. It is accompanied by Poor Richard, a slim volume containing a selection of Guston’s satirical drawings of Richard Nixon, created in the summer of 1971, two years before Watergate [...] Together, the two books emphasize Guston’s intense involvement in the world outside the studio. -- Editors * Art In America *

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Book SynopsisPhilip Guston always had eminent artist friends. Tireless in his quest for the unknown, the still undiscovered, Guston engaged poets and literati in intense dialogues that, starting in the sixties, led to fruitful collaborations - including the creation of numerous illustrations and cover images for works by poets such as William Corbett, Bill Berkson, and Clark Coolidge. In his "poempictures," Guston ultimately turned to producing interactions of text and drawings - as responses to poems by his writer friends or as independent works that incorporated selected lines of poetry.

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Book SynopsisA sweeping retrospective of Philip Guston’s influential work, from Depression-era muralist to abstract expressionist to tragicomic contemporary master A Wall Street Journal 2020 holiday gift guide pick Philip Guston—perhaps more than any other figure in recent memory—has given contemporary artists permission to break the rules and paint what, and how, they want. His winding career, embrace of “high” and “low” sources, and constant aesthetic reinvention defy easy categorization, and his 1968 figurative turn is by now one of modern art’s most legendary conversion narratives. “I was feeling split, schizophrenic. The war, what was happening in America, the brutality of the world. What kind of man am I, sitting at home, reading magazines, going into a frustrated fury about everything—and then going into my studio to adjust a red to a blue?” And so Guston’s sensitive abstractions gave way to large, cartoonlike canvases populated by lumpy, sometimes tortured figures and mysterious personal symbols in a palette of juicy pinks, acid greens, and cool blues. That Guston continued mining this vein for the rest of his life—despite initial bewilderment from his peers—reinforced his reputation as an artist’s artist and a model of integrity; since his death 50 years ago, he has become hugely influential as contemporary art has followed Guston into its own antic twists and turns. Published to accompany the first retrospective museum exhibition of Guston’s career in over 15 years, Philip Guston Now includes a lead essay by Harry Cooper surveying Guston's life and work, and a definitive chronology reflecting many new discoveries. It also highlights the voices of artists of our day who have been inspired by the full range of his work: Tacita Dean, Peter Fischli, Trenton Doyle Hancock, William Kentridge, Glenn Ligon, David Reed, Dana Schutz, Amy Sillman, Art Spiegelman and Rirkrit Tiravanija. Thematic essays by co-curators Mark Godfrey, Alison de Lima Greene and Kate Nesin trace the influences, interests and evolution of this singular force in modern and contemporary art—including several perspectives on the 1960s and ’70s, when Guston gradually abandoned abstraction, returning to the figure and to current history but with a personal voice, by turns comic and apocalyptic, that resonates today more than ever.Trade ReviewHighlights the regenerative quality of the master painter’s work...Whether mapping universal evil or the messy terrain of his own mind, he understood that an examination of society is always, even in small part, an examination of self. -- Rosa Boshier González * Brooklyn Rail *Isn’t that what artists are supposed to be about, showing us the complexity of their encounter with the world, rather than offering platitudes or outrage? -- Lyle Rexer * Brooklyn Rail *Guston became a witness to the 20th century’s darkest and foulest experiences without closing his eyes or turning away, and enabled us to see and reflect upon this brutality. -- John Yau * Hyperallergic *Brings Guston himself to life, thrashingly, ferociously so. -- Holland Cotter * New York Times: Arts *A necessary resource for anyone interested in understanding Guston…. What’s untimely in Guston is his freedom from the urge, so common today, to seek reassurance of one’s own goodness by accusing others of wrongdoing. -- Barry Schwabsky * The Nation *A sweeping retrospective of Philip Guston’s influential work, from Depression-era muralist to abstract expressionist to tragicomic contemporary master. Philip Guston – perhaps more than any other figure in recent memory – has given contemporary artists permission to break the rules and paint what, and how, they want. * Antiques and The Arts Weekly *Philip Guston was a rule-breaking artist, who inspired so many painters as well cartoonists, writers, poets, and musicians, and this book brings together scores of terrific essays by artists and scholars, and a wide-ranging collection of full-color reproductions of his paintings and drawings…. Insightful. -- Jake Marmer * Tablet *[Glenn] Ligon’s text is a powerful exploration of Guston’s Klansmen imagery, full of nuance, clear-eyed about the complexity and difficulty of addressing the subject. -- Ben Luke * Art Newspaper *A career-spanning retrospective that looks at Guston’s legacy and influence, and includes commentary on individual paintings by William Kentridge, Amy Sillman, Tacita Dean and many others. -- Michael Glover * Hyperallergic *Philip Guston is best known for his incisive, cartoonish paintings and drawings ranging in subject matter from everyday scenes to narrative political satires, particularly those of Richard Nixon. Guston’s work received varying degrees of critical praise throughout his lifetime, shifting as he changed course. -- Claire Selvin * ARTnews *A beautifully illustrated catalogue with essays by the show's co-curators and reflections on his influential work by such contemporary artists as Trenton Doyle Hancock, William Kentridge, and Amy Sillman. Guston created work in a variety of styles and from psychological points of view that continue to impact an evolving art world today. -- Paul Laster * Art and Object *Beautifully produced ... Philip Guston Now is a fitting and impressively informative survey and analysis of a remarkable artist, his life and his work. -- Editors * Midwest Book Review *Guston’s enduring appeal rests in the permissions he offers artists. He encourages them to drastically change their work in midstream, to examine their personal relationship to evil, to embrace discredited styles and genres, and to accept and even revel in their own ambivalence about the meaning of art. -- Editors * Art In America *A satisfying compilation of the late painter’s best-known work, as well as some surprises. Assembled for his new traveling retrospective at the National Gallery of Art, this catalogue could function either as an introduction or a point of reentry, giving those with varying experiences with Guston’s work a chance to deepen what they know. -- Editors * Cultured *A rousing and reverential guide to understanding the evolution of a painter and why he deeply resonates with such an illustrious audience of artists and patrons today. -- Evan Pricco * Juxtapoz *

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