An authoritative and comprehensive retrospective of the work of the visionary, adventurous, and influential painter Philip Guston. Driven and consumed by art, Guston painted and drew compulsively and talked about it with an unrivalled passion and fluency. Preeminent art critic, curator, and artist Robert Storr maps Guston's career, from the early social realist murals, to his poetic easel paintings of the 1940s, his shimmering abstract expressionist works of the 1950s and early 1960s and his new and powerful language of figurative painting of the later 1960s and 70s. Also included will be key writings by Guston himself as well as an in-depth and illustrated chronology. 0Featuring all the artist's best-known works, as well as many lesser known and previously unpublished paintings, the book will also include photographs of the artist at home, at work, at exhibitions and with other artists. "Philip Guston: A Life Spent Painting is an authoritative and comprehensive survey of the life and work of the visionary and influential painter Philip Guston. Driven and consumed by art, Philip Guston painted and drew compulsively. This book takes the reader from his early social realist murals and the Abstract Expressionist works of the 1950s and early 1960s to the powerful new language of figurative painting, which he developed in the late 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on more than thirty years of his own research, the critic and curator, Robert Storr, maps Guston's entire career in one definitive volume, providing a substantial, accessible, and revealing analysis of his work. With more than 900 images, the book illustrates Guston's key works, many unpublished paintings and drawings, and photographs showing the artist's life at home, his work in the studio, and his relationship with fellow artists. An illustrated chronology, drawn from the Guston Foundation's archives, contextualizes Guston's life and provides in-depth coverage of his many exhibitions. Guston was also able to speak about art with unrivalled passion and fluency. In celebration of this, the book features a final section devoted to Guston's own thoughts on his drawing and one of his great heroes--Piero della Francesca." --