From the Archive: Philip Guston paints his friend, Raoul Hague

Phillip Guston (1913-1980) Allegory, Oil on canvas, 68 x 73 1/2 in (172.7 x 186.1 cm) Saint Louis Art Museum. Funds given by the Shoenberg Foundation, Inc., and Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Shoenberg by exchange (8:1990)

The Saint Louis Art Museum “Object of the Day” for October 25, 2021 is a the painting “Allegory” by Philip Guston which prominently features Raoul Hague.

From the museum: “Philip Guston examines the dilemma of an artist—what is, in fact, his or her role in society? Guston presents himself here as an abstract blue creature in profile. He looks downward into the bespectacled eyes of composer Morton Feldman, while sculptor Raoul Hague flogs a jumble of shoes. The brow rising over the horizon belongs to Musa Guston, a poet and the painter’s wife. Instead of the certainty of science—represented by geometric shapes, numbers, and rulers—the artist faces ambiguity and endless possibilities in the search for artistic truth.”

See the painting here.