A collection of dialogues, talks, and writings by Philip Guston (1913-1980), one of the most intellectually adventurous and poetically gifted of modern painters. It lets us hear Guston's voice - as the artist delivers a lecture on Renaissance painting, instructs students in a classroom setting, and discusses various artists and writers.

Preface Acknowledgments Introduction by Dore Ashton Statement in Art News Annual (1944) Statement in Twelve Americans (1956) Notes on Bradley Walker Tomlin (1957) Interview with Sam Hunter (1957) From the Chicago Panel (1958) Statement in Nature in Abstraction (1958) Statement in It Is (1958) Statement in The New American Painting (1957–58/1959) Interview with David Sylvester (1960). From Panel at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (1960) Conversation with Bill Berkson (1964) Interview with Joseph S. Trovato (1965) Piero della Francesca: The Impossibility of Painting (1965) Philip Guston’s Object: Conversation with Harold Rosenberg (1965) Faith, Hope, and Impossibility (1965/66) Conversation with Joseph Ablow (1966) Interview with Karl Fortess (1966) On Morton Feldman (1967) Conversation with Morton Feldman (1968) The Image (1969) On Piero della Francesca (1971) Talk at Yale Summer School of Music and Art (1972) Conversation with Louis Finkelstein (1972) Conversation with Clark Coolidge (1972) Talk at Yale Summer School of Music and Art (1973) On the Nixon Drawings (1973) Ten Drawings (1973) On Survival (1974) On Drawing (1974) Conversation with Harold Rosenberg (1974) Talk at “Art/Not Art?” Conference (1978) From Panel at “Art/Not Art?” Conference (1978) Interview with Jan Butterfield (1979) Interview with Mark Stevens (1980) Interview with Joanne Dickson (1980) Studio Notes (1970–78) Bibliography List of Illustrations Index

"This volume introduces the diverse voices that comprise Guston's linguistic tapestry. Guston never stopped talking for too long. There may have been periods of silence precipitated by existential moments of doubt, but such lapses seem anomalous when measured against the voluminous transcriptions gleaned and edited by Clark Coolidge. Coolidge has done an admirable job arranging and presenting the book's contents, entirely relevant to anyone curious about Guston, and by extension, American Art of the post-World War II period."—Douglas Dreishpoon, chief curator at Knox-Albright Gallery

"Lovingly compiled" Artforum "This hefty volume is 344 pages of smart art takes (Clark Coolidge, ed.) by the largely self-taught painter who, with pal Jackson Pollock, got expelled from L.A.'s Manual Arts High School in 1929." -- Christopher Knight Los Angeles Times, Culture Watch Blog "This is a book of wisdom, not only for artists but for anyone seeking to learn something from art." The Nation "Expansive" San Francisco Bay Guardian "Until now his influence has been through his art rather than his words. This collection gathers together interviews and studio discussions and commits the artist's words to print. -- Alexander Adams Art Newspaper "[Guston's] voice at its effusive best." Jewish Exponent