PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980)
PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980)
PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980)
PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980)
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Property from the Estate of Constance Lewallen
PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980)

Roots, from Enigma Variations

Details
PHILIP GUSTON (1913-1980)
Roots, from Enigma Variations
signed, inscribed and dated 'To Bill Berkson, Philip Guston 1961' (lower right)
ink on paper
17 7/8 x 23 7/8 in. (45.4 x 60.6 cm.)
Executed in 1961.
Provenance
Bill Berkson, gift from the artist
By descent from the above to the present owner
Literature
B. Berkson and P. Guston, Enigma Variations, Berkeley, 1975, n.p. (illustrated).
P. Guston, Philip Guston: Drawings for Poets, Munich, 2015, p. 96 (illustrated).
Exhibited
San Francisco, Gallery Paule Anglim, Philip Guston: Drawings for Bill Berkson's Enigma Variations," December 1975-January 1976.
Andover, Addison Gallery of American Art; New York, The Drawing Center and Columbus, Wexner Center for the Arts, Philip Guston's Poem-Pictures, September 1994-Fall 1995.
Further Details
The Guston Foundation confirms that this lot will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of known drawings by the artist.

Brought to you by

Julian Ehrlich
Julian Ehrlich Associate Vice President, Specialist, Head of Post-War to Present Sale

Lot Essay

ROOTS

The people round off this planet
in sphere of sharp perfection
prickly, blithe
as the jawbone
of a spiritualist’s peevish
ups and downs.
However, these bubbles
could care less,
stuck, I guess
in familiar gnawing sleep
between the lights
of droning planes
as the people undress
persuasive and abundant
inside the lens
its knowing glance
forever equals
the amazing ability to forget

The above poem was first published in Enigma Variations, Bill Berkson’s 1975 book of poetry that included dedicated drawings by Philip Guston. The present drawing accompanied this poem in the publication.

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