Philip Guston Now

National Gallery of Art

March 2 – August 27, 2023

Photo: JMe

Web

1975

Oil on Canvas

Museum of Modern Art

Such an exhilarating show for something that is, for the most part, depressing and pessimistic in subject matter. Philip Guston’s color palette makes his work unique and attracts me to his paintings. The blushing (or is that alcohol-induced?) pinks, mauves, and crimsons are amazing in person. They radiate corrosively, especially when pushed next to neutrals or complementary colors. The cigarettes, eyeballs, and beer bottles never looked so appealing. The retrospective was impressive, exhibiting his early abstract paintings (and youthful figurative work before that) into his more recognizable images of the sixties and seventies. Even his Nixon portfolio was shown in its entirety. Do we have an artist now who could expose and comment on today’s politicians with the same insights and nerve?