Philip Guston belongs to the generation of the American postwar artists who were the first to free themselves from the great example of European art.In this book, well-known experts on Philip Guston's oeuvre focus not only on the early works but also on the late, realistic Guston, clearly revealing his artistic development from the late forties to the end of the seventies.

Philip Guston belongs to the generation of the American postwar artists who were the first to free themselves from the great example of European art. But unlike his Abstract Expressionist colleagues - such as Jackson Pollock or Willem de Kooning - Guston did not remain faithful to just one style, but developed a variety of different forms of expression. In the 1930s he began under the banner of socially committed surrealism, and by the end of the forties he had arrived at abstraction. From that time on, he created the large-format, powerful color paintings that established his international reputation.But in the midsixties Guston returned to a kind of symbolic realism with disturbing power, which determines his image in art history today. His late works are dominated by mysterious paintings of great intensity that had a major influence on many younger artists, including in Germany.

In this book, well-known experts on Philip Guston's oeuvre focus not only on the early works but also on the late, realistic Guston, clearly revealing his artistic development from the late forties to the end of the seventies.

Avant-propos/Foreword

Christoph Schreier

Itineraire d'une peinture 《impure》:

Reflection sur I'oeuvre picturale de Philip Guston

Paths to an "Impure" Painting Style: On Philip Guston's Paintings

Michael Auping

Une anomalie dans le champ

A Disturbance in the Field

Martin Hentschel

De I'abstraction a la figuration: la Iongue marche de Philip Guston

From the Abstract to the Figurative: Philip Guston's Stony Path

Planches couleurs / lllustrations

Biographie / Biography

Liste des oeuvres exposees/List of Exhibited Works

Bibliographie / Bibliography

Selection d'expositions individuelles ou groupees/

Selection of One Man Exhibition and Group Shows