This exhibition catalog explores the politically charged and satirical works of Philip Guston (1913–1980), focusing on his Nixon drawings and figurative paintings created in response to Philip Roth’s 1971 novel Our Gang. Published by Éditions Gallimard in collaboration with the Musée National Picasso–Paris, the volume accompanies the 2025–2026 exhibition and offers a fresh perspective on Guston’s late career.
The catalog features approximately 150 works, including 73 drawings from the Nixon series, many of which are published here for the first time. These pieces reflect Guston’s deep engagement with American politics, social critique, and the absurdity of power. His visual language, rooted in cartoonish figuration, surrealism, and Mexican muralism, emerged in the 1970s as a radical departure from Abstract Expressionism.
Essays by Didier Ottinger, Joanne Snrech, and Agnès Desarthe examine Guston’s relationship with literature, especially Roth’s satirical prose, and contextualize his work within broader political and artistic movements. The catalog also traces Guston’s early influences, including Picasso’s Guernica, and his lifelong commitment to confronting injustice through art.
Supported by the Philip Guston Foundation and Musa Meyer, the artist’s daughter, this publication offers a rare and intimate look at Guston’s most provocative period. It is essential for readers interested in postwar American art, political satire, and the intersection of visual and literary culture.
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