Art Review
An exhibition showcasing works from 1964 to 1978 highlights the artist’s evolution and the crucial role of his wife, poet Musa McKim, as a key supporter and muse.
Philip Guston, “Two Hearts” (1978), oil on canvas (© The Estate of Philip Guston; photo Sarah Muehlbauer, courtesy the Estate and Hauser & Wirth)
Philip Guston had a profound appreciation for poets. In 1968, he, along with his wife, artist and poet Musa McKim, and their teenage daughter, relocated to Woodstock, New York. This move marked a radical shift in his artistic approach from abstraction to a more cartoon-like depiction of people and objects. This transformation was accompanied by collaborations with local poets, especially Clark Coolidge, who was a neighbor. Until his passing in 1980, Guston created drawings for numerous poems by poets like Coolidge, Bill Berkson, and William Corbett. He also contributed illustrations for the covers of small magazines and poetry books produced on mimeograph machines. Guston’s generosity towards poets was unparalleled among artists. Despite facing criticism from the art world and peers, poets recognized and championed his transformation, resonating with the sentiment from Robert Kelly’s poem, “Finding the measure” (circa 1968): “Style is death.”
Life With P. – Philip Guston: Paintings and Drawings 1964–1978, hosted at Hauser and Wirth, assembles works from this pivotal period. During this time, Guston simplified his drawings, often reducing them to just a few lines, and started anew. Drawing, particularly the use of bare lines, was central to his artistic practice. This phase of exploration struck a chord with Coolidge, who sought to evolve beyond his early, sound-focused poems without abandoning his passion for sound. The exhibition not only highlights the evolution of Guston’s art but also underscores the essential support he received from McKim, his lifelong partner and a poet herself.
Three significant easel paintings in the exhibition focus on Philip and Musa. In “Untitled” (1976), a large cadmium-red head emerges from a red horizon against a dirty grayish-pink background, with eyes gazing upwards. “Blue Cover” (1977) portrays the couple closely entwined in bed under a simple light blue cover, their heads beneath the blanket, symbolizing their mortality. “Two Hearts” (1978) features a black heart pierced by a gray arrow resting atop a red heart, stitched together on a low blue pedestal. This motif of black and red hearts, unique to Guston, evokes a sense of heartache, intimacy, and vulnerability. His palette of pinks, blues, and cadmium reds introduces a paradoxical sweetness to the somber themes of his work. Guston’s art is lush and melancholic, full of contradictions.
