Philip Guston

Philip Guston was a Canadian born, American painter who famously belonged to the Abstract Expressionist movement before turning to politically charged figurative works. He moved with his family to Los Angeles where he began painting by the age of 14, independently creating socially conscious mural projects on family property by the age of 18. He studied at the Otis Art Institute in 1930 with Jackson Pollock and moved to New York in 1935. Primarily self-taught and already motivated by socially progressive issues, he worked for the Works Progress Administration's Mural Division until 1940, creating works such as Maintaining America's Skills for the facade of the WPA building at the 1939 World's Fair. He also worked for the Treasury Department's Fine Arts Section from 1938 to 1942. Guston's early paintings, such as... Show more