The Ladder

1978

Philip Guston

Associated Names
Philip Guston

Painter, American, born Canada, 1913 - 1980

This painting displays a background of horizontal rectangles in shades of blue. To the left of center is a tall white shape that resembles a ladder: two vertical posts with horizontal lines between them. A red shape that looks like a thin tube seems to stretch across the ladder, folding over the top rung. At each end of this long shape are what look like the soles of shoes, the top one only partially visible. To the right of center, parallel with the top of the ladder, a semi-circular shape with orange and pink concentric patterns is visible above the largest horizontal blue section. The impression given is a ladder leaning against a blue wall, with a figure or shape partially visible behind the wall. The blue sections have faint lines of pink and red in them, and the brushstrokes in the painting are visible.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Edward R. Broida

  • Dimensions

    overall: 181.61 × 278.13 × 5.08 cm (71 1/2 × 109 1/2 × 2 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2005.142.17

  • Copyright

    © The Estate of Philip Guston

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Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(David McKee Gallery, New York); purchased January 1980 by Edward R. Broida [1933-2006], Los Angeles; gift (partial and promised) 2005 to NGA; gift completed 2006.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1980

  • Philip Guston, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Denver Art Museum; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1980-1981, no. 92, pl. 81.

1982

  • Philip Guston: Paintings 1969-1980, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunsthalle, Basel, 1982-1983, no. 30, repro., as The Ladder.

1984

  • Philip Guston: The Late Works, National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne; The Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1984, no. 29, repro.

1989

  • Philip Guston Retrospective, Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art, Madrid; Palau de la Virreina, Barcelona, 1989, no. 60, repro. (followed by U.S. tour through January 1990, organized by the St. Louis Art Museum).

1997

  • Founders and Heirs of the New York School, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo; The Miyagi Museum of Art; Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, 1997, no. 58, repro.

2006

  • Selections from the Collection of Edward R. Broida, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2006, unnumbered brochure, fig. e.

2009

  • In the Tower: Philip Guston, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2009-2010, no catalogue.

2022

  • Philip Guston Now, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Tate Modern, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; 2022-2024, no. 165, repro.

Bibliography

2022

  • Cooper, Harry. "Exhibitions." Art for the Nation no. 66 (Fall 2022): 46-47, repro.

Inscriptions

upper left reverse, the title, dimensions, and "S.F. MUSEUM" underlined: PHILIP GUSTON / "THE LADDER" 1978 / OIL ON CANVAS / 70X108 / S.F. MUSEUM SHOW

Wikidata ID

Q20197768

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