Legend By Philip Guston
I choose Legend by Philip Guston for my visual description; Legend is one of the important paintings by Philip Guston, a Canadian born American in 1977. Painting medium is Oil on Canvas and movement is abstract expressionism. Its dimensions are 69 inches tall and 78.5 inches wide and its accession number is 88.35. Painting is currently located at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Philip was one of the legends of Abstract Expressionism, in late sixties Philip changed his style which made him famous but later on he painted the abstract art. In 1940’s he painted battling figures to reflect the effect of World War II, and late in life, Philip return to these images and Legend is intimate meditations on mortality and memory. It is a piece
of self-reflection, in which Guston used symbols to signal his psyche and dream, showing artist laydown on the bed and horse behind him, scattered cigarettes, bottle of alcohols reminding bed habits and other objects like tin-lead are shows artist frustration. He chose to paint by reintroducing figuration to his painting and created the cartoon-like objects and figure that were painted with images familiar to him since childhood such as the hooded figure of the Ku Klux Klan, to everyday objects such as tin-leads and cigarette. Here large brushes were used throughout this painting and the paint was used in different ways. The brushwork is broad to the point of slapdash consist of soft, rectangular bands of color stretching horizontally across his canvases. Colors do have values. They are rich in associations. They are symbolic. They carry feelings. Painter was concerned with brushstroke and paint texture, but he came to view color as the most powerful communication tool. This painting was just a piece of his collection where he wanted to send a message and have each one convey ideas about the human condition and to express the artist's own fears and crises. he symbolism is obvious but the power, along with the humanity, a pink pastel background that seems to highlight their rawness.
Work Citation
of self-reflection, in which Guston used symbols to signal his psyche and dream, showing artist laydown on the bed and horse behind him, scattered cigarettes, bottle of alcohols reminding bed habits and other objects like tin-lead are shows artist frustration. He chose to paint by reintroducing figuration to his painting and created the cartoon-like objects and figure that were painted with images familiar to him since childhood such as the hooded figure of the Ku Klux Klan, to everyday objects such as tin-leads and cigarette. Here large brushes were used throughout this painting and the paint was used in different ways. The brushwork is broad to the point of slapdash consist of soft, rectangular bands of color stretching horizontally across his canvases. Colors do have values. They are rich in associations. They are symbolic. They carry feelings. Painter was concerned with brushstroke and paint texture, but he came to view color as the most powerful communication tool. This painting was just a piece of his collection where he wanted to send a message and have each one convey ideas about the human condition and to express the artist's own fears and crises. he symbolism is obvious but the power, along with the humanity, a pink pastel background that seems to highlight their rawness.
Work Citation