Guston, Philip (1913–1980)

Canadian-born US painter. Initially inspired by the Mexican muralists, he developed a fluid, abstract style in the 1950s. He later returned to a harsh, dynamic figuration, satirizing contemporary life with cartoonlike drawings in livid pinks, greys, white, and black, as in Painting, Smoking, Eating 1973 (Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam).

Largely self-taught, Guston began his career executing murals for the Federal Arts Project 1935–42. The Impressionist style of abstraction he adopted in the 1950s placed him squarely within the New York School of abstract expressionism.