Talking Philip Guston is an oil on canvas painted by the Canadian born artist Philip Guston in 1979. This artwork measures 68 1/10 × 78 3/10 in | 173 × 198.8 cm, making it a large, imposing piece. It was part of the permanent collection of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art but is not currently on view there.
Philip Guston focused much of his work on talking heads, as a representation to explore the internal world of emotions and thoughts that exist behind these faces or voices. His paintings are populated with figures that can be interpreted in relation to himself, as well as society at large.
In Talking Philip Guston, we can see how he has used a limited palette of grays and browns to create depth and texture in the painting. The large figure is framed against an expansive background which allows us to really focus on him and his words as he speaks. By painting this large-scale piece with richly textured surface treatments and a muted palette, he has been able to create a captivating visual exploration into the depths of human emotion and communication through art.
Room – Philip Guston – 1976 is another large-scale oil painting by the artist Philip Guston that has also been part of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection since 2012. This painting paints a stark contrast between a dark and empty room filled with oppressive figures against an open window which gives way to lightness beyond its confines; something many viewers can relate to during troubled times. This painting continues to explore themes related to our internal experience through metaphor with surrealistic elements that help evoke emotion for viewers without forcing dialogue or interpretation upon them.
