Guston in Time: Remembering Philip Guston

By Ross Feld

Book Overview

In this warm and vibrant work of memoir and criticism, a young writer forges a friendship with Philip Guston, one of the most influential and controversial painters of the twentieth century.

The late work of Philip Guston has had a profound influence on painters today, but as Guston's star has risen, it has been forgotten how scandalous these paintings, with their cartoonish imagery and almost fumbling application of paint, were initially deemed to be. The 1970 show at the Marlborough Gallery in which Guston, abandoning the delicate abstract expressionism for which he was known, revealed his new style, was critically savaged. In the aftermath of this drubbing, he retreated to his studio in Woodstock, New York--in part to nurse his wounds but, more important, to go on painting exactly as he saw fit.

Ross Feld, a young poet, novelist, and critic, was one of the rare critics to respond favorably to Guston's late work. Guston answered with a grateful note, and a new friendship was soon born. Guston in Time, written not long before Feld's early death from cancer, is a portrait of Guston the man; and of his wife, Musa, a major figure not only in his life but in his work; a reckoning with his supremely individual achievement as an artist; and a work of art in its own right.

A retrospective of Guston's work, Philip Guston Now, will be on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from May 1 to September 11, 2022; at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from October 23, 2022, to January 15, 2023; at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., from February 26 to August 27, 2023; and at the Tate Modern, London, from October 3, 2023 to February 4, 2024.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 168137661X
• ISBN13: 9781681376615
• Release Date: May 2022
• Publisher: New York Review of Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Intimate correspondence between the artist and friend

For Guston fans who want a little more insight on how his brain worked, this is a gem. It contains lots of letters between him and Ross Feld (the author), as well as anecdotes and stories about Guston and his wife and their life in Stockbridge. You quickly see that Guston was very much an emotional being, possibly manic-depressive, who drank and smoked and ate too much - but truly loved life. This is a quick read, but an invaluable part of a Guston library for the insights it provides on his up-and-down career and (sometimes) bewildering artwork. The negatives are that it's a bit pricey for such a little book, and it's a little short on commentary.

Good Insights

This book has some very fine insights into the painting life of Philip Guston. Worth the read.

A recommended pick for Guston fans

Figurative painter Guston's life was vibrant; he was a muralist, then an abstract expressionist, and finally a figurative artists. Here friend and novelist Feld, Guston's friend, interprets his works and his friendship with Guston, adding many personal insights and embellishments from the friendship which will lead artists to a fuller appreciation of his life. A recommended pick for Guston fans who want an insightful biography/memoir.