Nice by Philip Guston

Nice

Philip Guston · 1966

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“This stark lithograph by Philip Guston uses a simple, almost childlike drawing of a house to evoke a powerful sense of isolation and vulnerability against a vast, dark background.”

ABOUT THIS WORK

A dense, inky blackness dominates this lithograph, creating a sense of foreboding and enclosure. Within this heavy atmosphere, a small, almost childlike drawing of a house with a steeply pitched roof and a tiny window emerges. It sits precariously on a hill, surrounded by a few sparse, wiry trees that seem to struggle against the dark void. The scene feels both familiar and deeply unsettling, like a memory half-recalled or a dreamscape. The stark contrast between the deep black and the delicate white lines gives the image an intense emotional weight, hinting at isolation or a fragile domesticity threatened by an unseen force. This work, made in 1966, captures a moment of transition, revealing an artist grappling with new forms of expression and moving away from the abstract style that had defined much of his earlier career.

DETAILS
Artist
Philip Guston
Date
1966
Medium
Lithograph in black on cream wove paper
Location
Art Institute of Chicago
Dimensions
Image: 47 × 64 cm (18 9/16 × 25 1/4 in.); Sheet: 57 × 76 cm (22 1/2 × 29 15/16 in.)
LOOK CLOSER

What to Notice

Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

Nice
01

The tiny, almost dollhouse-like structure perched on the hill.

02

The way the dark ink engulfs nearly the entire sheet.

03

The delicate, almost scratched lines forming the trees and house.

04

The single, small window on the house, suggesting a lone light.

THE ARTIST

Philip Guston

Philip Guston, born Phillip Goldstein, was a Canadian and American painter who evolved from abstract expressionism to a raw, cartoonish figuration, often depicting hooded figures he called self-portraits.

Read Guston’s full story
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