One of the most significant exhibitions of the fall season is now underway at the Musée National Picasso-Paris, featuring American painter and draftsman Philip Guston (1913-1980). The retrospective, titled "Philip Guston: The Irony of History," presents approximately twenty canvases, some in large format, alongside forty works on paper that span the artist's revolutionary career.
Co-curator Didier Ottinger, chief heritage curator working alongside Joanne Snrech, explains that the exhibition's title reflects "the profound affinity between Guston and Picasso: the capacity to link the sublime and the grotesque." According to Ottinger, the work is sublime because "it is marvelously painted," yet grotesque because both artists applied themselves to "subjects that are apparently quite trivial, and made paintings without equivalent in modern art."
The exhibition traces Guston's complete artistic journey through a carefully curated dialogue with Picasso's work. The first gallery focuses on Guston's early career among the muralists, described as a "figurative school that was quite socially engaged," which established him early on as one of America's most important painters. During this period, Guston created politically conscious works that reflected the social concerns of his generation.
Guston's artistic evolution took a dramatic turn when he was converted to abstract painting by his colleague Jackson Pollock, who invited him to join the New York painters in their experimental research. During this phase, Guston experimented with radical abstraction, as Ottinger describes: "He covers the canvas with gestures; he believes that painting takes precedence over the artist and imposes an order and a form on him, which is that of radical abstraction."
In an unexpected move that shocked the art world, Philip Guston once again radically changed direction and returned to figuration. However, this time he embraced what was considered "extreme bad taste for the era," adopting the exaggerated style of comic strips. Through this approach, Guston intended to paint what he saw as the worst aspects of the world, most notably through his controversial depictions of hooded Ku Klux Klan figures.
During this transformative period, Guston collaborated with acclaimed author Philip Roth, creating an entire series of drawings for Roth's novel "Our Gang" (published in French as "Tricard Dixon et ses copains"). The artistic language of one artist harmonized with the aesthetic of the other, serving as a resonating chamber for an America riddled with contradictions and social tensions.
Guston's bold artistic vision earned him widespread admiration and influence over an entire generation of artists who would similarly explore figuration haunted by the "American nightmare." This influence is exemplified in the concurrent exhibition dedicated to Raymond Pettibon, displayed on the lower level of the museum, which showcases how Guston's legacy continued to inspire artists examining America's darker aspects.
The exhibition "Philip Guston: The Irony of History" runs from October 14, 2025, through March 1, 2026, at the Musée National Picasso-Paris, located at 5 rue de Thorigny in Paris's 3rd arrondissement. Visitors can explore this comprehensive retrospective that demonstrates why Guston remains one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century, whose work continues to resonate with contemporary audiences grappling with social and political complexities.
