Philip Guston
Untitled
1969
Scroll
Philip Guston
Untitled
1969
Physical Qualities
Black crayon on paper, Sheet: 441 x 583 mm. (17 3/8 x 22 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection
Object Number
1970.27.4
Philip Guston contrasts themes of violence, power, and oppression with an aggressive cartoon style influenced by George Herriman (American, 1880-1944, creator of Krazy Kat) and R. Crumb (American, born 1943, famous for Keep on Truckin'). Guston lived in Los Angeles in the early 1930s at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was active, and their presence haunted the artist for many years. Here, cigar-smoking. Hooded figures drive a convertible with a pair of overturned legs in the back seat. Guston's work leaves viewers to fill in the gaps of his strange and menacing world.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1970; Mr. Edward Benesch, NY, 1970; Marlborough Gallery, NY
Victor Carlson (organized and circulated by the BMA), "19th and 20th Century Prints and Drawings from The Baltimore Museum of Art." E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, November 3 - December 2, 1973; Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, January 18 - February 17, 1974; The William Hayes Ackland Memorial Art Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, April 2 - April 21, 1974, cat. 24.
Victor Carlson and Carol Hynning Smith, BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries"; circulated by the American Federation of Arts to the Guggenheim Museum, NY, 24 August - 7 October 1979; Des Moines Art Center, 19 November 1979 - 6 January 1980; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 8 February - 16 March, 1980; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1 May - 22 June 1980 ; Denver Art Museum, 12 July - 24 August, 1980.
BMA, "Drawings from the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 14 October - 12 December 1982.
BMA, "Modern Master Drawings from the Museum's Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 21 February - 30 April 1989.
BMA, "BMA Collects: Landscape Drawings from the T.E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 8 May - 17 June, 1990.
BMA, "Major Modern Drawings from the Collection," 8 October - 18 December 1994.
BMA, "Select Views: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 21 May - 30 July 2006.
Darsie Alexander, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, "Front Room: Ripple Effect," May 30 - September 2, 2007.
Ann Shafer, BMA, "On Paper: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 18 November 2012 - 10 February 2013.
Christopher Bedford and Katy Siegel, BMA. "Every Day: Selections from the Collection," Sunday, July 14, 2019 - Sunday, January 05, 2020.
Baltimore Museum of Art, "Crosscurrents: Works from the Contemporary Collection," Gallery 06, February 26 - June 2025.
Victor Carlson and Carol Hynning Smith, BMA, "Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries"; circulated by the American Federation of Arts to the Guggenheim Museum, NY, 24 August - 7 October 1979; Des Moines Art Center, 19 November 1979 - 6 January 1980; Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, 8 February - 16 March, 1980; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1 May - 22 June 1980 ; Denver Art Museum, 12 July - 24 August, 1980.
BMA, "Drawings from the Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 14 October - 12 December 1982.
BMA, "Modern Master Drawings from the Museum's Thomas E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 21 February - 30 April 1989.
BMA, "BMA Collects: Landscape Drawings from the T.E. Benesch Memorial Collection," 8 May - 17 June, 1990.
BMA, "Major Modern Drawings from the Collection," 8 October - 18 December 1994.
BMA, "Select Views: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 21 May - 30 July 2006.
Darsie Alexander, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, "Front Room: Ripple Effect," May 30 - September 2, 2007.
Ann Shafer, BMA, "On Paper: Drawings from the Benesch Collection," 18 November 2012 - 10 February 2013.
Christopher Bedford and Katy Siegel, BMA. "Every Day: Selections from the Collection," Sunday, July 14, 2019 - Sunday, January 05, 2020.
Baltimore Museum of Art, "Crosscurrents: Works from the Contemporary Collection," Gallery 06, February 26 - June 2025.
"The Thomas Edward Benesch Memorial Collection," BMA, 1970, unpaginated.
Carlson, Victor, and Carol Hynning Smith. Master Drawings and Watercolors of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: The Baltimore Museum of Art. New York, NY: The American Federation of Arts, 1979, pp. 193, ill.
Inscribed: lower right in crayon: "Philip Guston '70"
Artist
Philip Guston
1912–1979
born Montreal, Canada 1913; died Woodstock, NY 1980
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