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Room 112

Date
1957
Material
Oil on canvas
Classification
Paintings
Current Location
On View, Gallery 247
Dimensions
62 x 68 1/2 in. (157.5 x 174 cm)
framed: 62 1/4 x 68 3/4 in. (158.1 x 174.6 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Pulitzer Jr.
Rights
© [year of publication] Estate of Philip Guston
Object Number
249:1966
NOTES
Clustered networks of blue, green, red, black, and ochre converge in this canvas as if drawn together by a gravitational force. Room 112 represents Philip Guston’s distinctive approach to Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s. He worked more methodically than some of his artistic colleagues, building up his surface with multiple layers of pigment. Nonetheless, this work also showcases his use of spontaneous drips and paint spatter. After leaving his teaching post at Washington University in St. Louis in 1947, Guston set aside representational painting to create abstract compositions with bold, dynamic brushstrokes.
- 1958
Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, NY, acquired from the artist

1958 - 1966
Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (1913-1993) and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer (d.1968), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Sidney Janis Gallery [1]

1966 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Joseph Pulitzer Jr. and Louise Vauclain Pulitzer [2]


Notes:
[1] Joseph Pulitzer Jr. purchased the work from the Sidney Janis Gallery, November 11, 1958 [Chetham, Charles Scott. "Modern Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture Collected by Louise and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr." Cambridge, MA: Fogg Art Museum, vol. 3, 1971, cat. 180, p. 438-9].

[2] Deed of Gift, dated December 28, 1966 [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Administrative Board of Control of the City Art Museum, January 12, 1967.

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