Linking Collections, Building Connections

My Coffee Cup was painted in Philip Guston’s Woodstock studio after his break from Abstract Expressionism, a break which at first incurred derision from major critics like Hilton Kramer. Yet from there, Guston would settle into his signature style, seen here: a graphic, cartoonish simplicity combined with thick brushwork and a predominance of pink tones. The painting is inscribed to Karl Fortess, another painter living in Woodstock.