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.