{"id":3878,"date":"2020-11-27T11:54:57","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T19:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878"},"modified":"2021-09-16T20:36:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T03:36:34","slug":"philip-guston-controversy-impact-argument-coddling-of-the-american-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878","title":{"rendered":"Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

October was a watershed month for the museum world. A week before the month started, the National Gallery of Art announced that the long-anticipated Philip Guston retrospective, already delayed because of pandemic-related closures, was to be postponed for another four years, until the summer of 2024, for reasons that could be best described as ideological. By the end of the month, the administration’s decision to postpone was amended with a new date of 2022, now two years out. The initial postponement prompted an impressive public pushback, which likely caused the NGA to cave in, offering a compromise date. I attempted to explain what had happened, and why, in an essay recently published by the Athenaeum Review.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Philip Guston, The Studio, 1969. Oil on canvas, 121.9 x 106.7 cm \/ 48 x 42 in. \u00a9 The Estate of Philip Guston, courtesy Hauser & Wirth. Private Collection. Photo: Genevieve Hanson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“If considerations of \u201cimpact\u201d supersede considerations of merit in the choice of the art, then the Directors were absolutely right to halt the show because some of the work, according to the \u201cimpact\u201d argument, is unpalatable for consumption within a culture that prioritizes viewers\u2019 emotional safety. But should the argument that is at the base of the \u201cPhilip Guston Now\u201d postponement become a precedent, then art museums will be transformed into consciousness-raising platforms where ideological considerations will overtake aesthetics and art history. This path had already been trodden by the infamous 1937 Degenerate Art exhibition mounted in Munich, where the public was \u201ceducated\u201d on the art of modernist decay, with the help of derogatory wall texts aimed to reveal the ideological misdeeds of the painters who dared to distort color and human form. That exhibition was built on the premise that modernist art was harmful to the spirit and body of the German people. Its potential harmful impact was to be mitigated with the proper ideological framing of the offending artwork.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is telling that among ten contributions to the catalogue by contemporary artists whose work has been influenced by Guston, three dealt specifically with the \u201csensitive\u201d references. Two of these were penned by African American artists\u2014 Trenton Doyle Hancock and Glenn Ligon, who, far from being offended by Guston\u2019s allusions to the KKK, found them redemptive and even \u201cwoke.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[965,985,986],"tags":[225,992,994,995,989,990,993,987,991,996,988],"class_list":["post-3878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essay","category-museums","category-museums-museums","tag-art-history","tag-controversy","tag-impact","tag-intent","tag-museums","tag-nga","tag-open-letter","tag-philip-guston","tag-retrospective","tag-safetyism","tag-woke"],"yoast_head":"\n% Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument - Julia Friedman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This essay argues that the postponment of the Philip Guston retrospective was an ideologically-driven action at odds with museums' mandate.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"% Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument - Julia Friedman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This essay argues that the postponment of the Philip Guston retrospective was an ideologically-driven action at odds with museums' mandate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Julia Friedman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-27T19:54:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-17T03:36:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1-400x455.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jfriedman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jfriedman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jfriedman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423\"},\"headline\":\"Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-27T19:54:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-17T03:36:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878\"},\"wordCount\":317,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1-400x455.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Art History\",\"controversy\",\"impact\",\"intent\",\"museums\",\"NGA\",\"open letter\",\"Philip Guston\",\"retrospective\",\"safetyism\",\"woke\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Essay\",\"museums\",\"museums\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878\",\"name\":\"% Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument - Julia Friedman\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1-400x455.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-27T19:54:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-17T03:36:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423\"},\"description\":\"This essay argues that the postponment of the Philip Guston retrospective was an ideologically-driven action at odds with museums' mandate.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=3878#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/11\\\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1.jpg\",\"width\":1801,\"height\":2048},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Julia Friedman\",\"description\":\"Art History and Contemporary Art\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423\",\"name\":\"jfriedman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jfriedman\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"% Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument - Julia Friedman","description":"This essay argues that the postponment of the Philip Guston retrospective was an ideologically-driven action at odds with museums' mandate.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"% Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument - Julia Friedman","og_description":"This essay argues that the postponment of the Philip Guston retrospective was an ideologically-driven action at odds with museums' mandate.","og_url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878","og_site_name":"Julia Friedman","article_published_time":"2020-11-27T19:54:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-17T03:36:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1-400x455.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"jfriedman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jfriedman","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878"},"author":{"name":"jfriedman","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423"},"headline":"Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument","datePublished":"2020-11-27T19:54:57+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-17T03:36:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878"},"wordCount":317,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1-400x455.jpg","keywords":["Art History","controversy","impact","intent","museums","NGA","open letter","Philip Guston","retrospective","safetyism","woke"],"articleSection":["Essay","museums","museums"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878","url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878","name":"% Philip Guston (Not) Now: the Impact Argument - Julia Friedman","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1-400x455.jpg","datePublished":"2020-11-27T19:54:57+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-17T03:36:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423"},"description":"This essay argues that the postponment of the Philip Guston retrospective was an ideologically-driven action at odds with museums' mandate.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=3878#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/GUSTO79035-hires-1-1801x2048-1.jpg","width":1801,"height":2048},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/","name":"Julia Friedman","description":"Art History and Contemporary Art","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423","name":"jfriedman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jfriedman"},"url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3878"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3919,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3878\/revisions\/3919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}