Philip Guston's abstract expressionist period highlighted at Hauser & Wirth

It’s about time somebody put together Philip Guston’s abstract expressionist paintings and mounted them in a show – and that’s just what Hauser & Wirth has done with its exciting exhibit Philip Guston: Painter, 1957-1967. Catch it if you possibly can, because it closes July 29 and is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event.

This ambitious show spreads in chronological order through four rooms with 36 paintings and 53 charcoal and ink drawings. It’s presented more like a museum exhibit than a gallery show. In fact, many of the works on display are borrowed from museums and private collections and are not offered for sale.

The exhibit is a dazzling display of Guston’s trademark style during this period, with bold forms and brushstrokes and a progression from vibrant colors to darkened hues over the years before he made his final pivot back to figurative art. But even within the abstract form one can often make out depictions of people, animals, objects, nature, and emotion, hinting that he had not completely left the figurative style behind.

Fable II (1957) by Philip Guston

For example, Alchemist (1960), has supernatural elements as it illustrates a dark blue moon subtly revealing a face as though representing the spirit of an ancestor watching over its descendants in the house directly below. Outside the house, a mysterious tall, skinny figure (an alchemist, perhaps) whose height exceeds the home, reaches out as though giving the house a blessing.

Path II (1960) is done in somber hues of dark greys, muted blues and black with a shape resembling a human figure on the left, similar to Accord I (1962), where dark grey and black swirls of paint engulf the canvas as traces of orange and sky blue peek out from behind. On the left side of the painting, a shape resembling a human figure wearing a rosy pink garment is bending its head, depicted as a dark red circle, and looking down. Other intriguing paintings include Fable II (1957), which suggests a woman wearing a ruby red dress and riding an elephant-like creature against a quiet backdrop of grey, sky blue and yellow.

Between 1967 and 1969, Guston did a series of charcoal and ink drawings where he makes use of fine form and and geometrical patterns, some of which are on display in the show. This exhibit, curated by Paul Schimmel, partner and vice-president of Hauser & Wirth in Los Angeles, gives well-deserved recognition to this phase of Guston’s career.

At Hauser & Wirth, 511 W. 18th St., through July 29. The gallery is open Tue.-Sat. from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. until June 19, and is on a summer schedule of Mon.-Fri. from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. June 20-July 29.