Philip Guston's 1970 Marlborough show: freedom over likeability

Christian Caliandro reflects on the role of the unexpected in contemporary art, tracing shifts in how artworks are conceived and received over the past century. He argues that the function and function of art have changed radically, with different approaches sometimes abandoned or resurfacing. Focusing on the 1960s, he cites Federico Fellini's experience filming 8½ (1963) during a four-month strike, which prevented him from viewing dailies and forced him to maintain unpredictability until the end. Fellini described this as ideal, as seeing footage would have created a comparison with the ideal film, weakening it. Caliandro then examines Philip Guston's 1970 solo exhibition at Marlborough Gallery in New York, where his new cartoonish style was met with harsh criticism from Hilton Kramer and Robert Hughes. Only Willem de Kooning recognized its significance, calling it "about freedom." Guston rejected abstract purity, embracing "impurity" as a record of life's chaos and bad taste. Caliandro contrasts this with contemporary pressure for "likeability" and conformity, arguing that true freedom remains as vital in 2020 as in 1970.