For the debut of Art Basel Qatar, we present an intimate selection of one of the great luminaries of 20th-century art, Philip Guston. Guston’s legendary career spanned a half century, from 1930 to 1980, and his work continues to exert a powerful influence on younger generations of contemporary painters. His paintings—particularly the liberated and instinctual forms of his late work—are considered his greatest and most lasting contributions to art history. While critics denounced his dramatic shift from abstract expressionism toward dark, figurative imagery, the paintings of Guston’s last years are today considered milestones of modern art.

Emerging from Guston’s prolific final years, ‘Conversation’ (1978) abounds with autobiographical references. This tender self-portrait develops Guston’s key visual motifs: the head in profile with its observant eye, the omnipresent cigarettes and overflowing ashtray, the smoke dissolving into a luminous painterly ground.

The booth selection also includes the monumental painting ‘Sign’ (1970), painted eight years earlier at the dawn of Guston’s figurative renaissance, featuring recognizable motifs such as a red hand, a window looking out onto a cityscape, a light bulb and a floating red canvas. Like many of Guston’s late paintings, the works on view reveal a deeply personal world, driven by the artist’s desire to tell stories that not only reflect his state of mind, but also provide insights into the social climate of his time.

‘A painting feels lived-out to me, not painted. That’s why one is changed by painting. In a rare magical moment, I never feel myself to be more than a trusting accomplice.’