Untitled

Maker

(artist)
1913-1980

Title

Untitled

Date of Production

1969

Medium

charcoal on paper

Dimensions

Height: 45.4 cm
Width: 61 cm

Accession Number

D.2020.HK.2

Mode of Acquisition

Karshan Collection, gift, 2020

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust). Gift by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan.

Copyright

Location

Not currently on display

Label Text

At first glance, these triangular heads smoking under a clock seem comical. However, they are quickly recognisable as disturbing, cartoonish depictions of hooded members of the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan. With such drawings, Philip Guston wanted to engage directly with the culture of social division and racism in the United States at the time. Having moved away from his earlier abstract work, he focused on these startlingly direct and challenging figures. The drawing’s unsettling power lies in its use of seemingly simple humour to represent malevolence.

Provenance

by descent to the artist's son, Musa Guston Mayer, New York; acquired from him by David McKee Gallery, New York; purchased there by Howard Karshan (1933-2017), 23 February 1990 [invoice in file]; Presented by Linda Karshan in memory of her husband, Howard Karshan, 2020.

Exhibition History

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 19/11/2021-09/01/2022

Literature

Modern Drawings: The Karshan Gift, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20 Nov. 2021 - 9 Jan. 2022
cat. no. 18
ill. on p. 97

Inscriptions

Inscription: Recto: lower right, black ink, signed and dated: "Philip Guston '69". Verso: lower edge, graphite, name and inv. of Gallery where purchased: “McKee, 8049, # 4”.

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