Rain 1975

Philip Guston made this drawing, Rain, with ink on paper, sometime in the 70s. It’s got that signature Guston frankness, a directness in the line that I really admire. I can just imagine him, sitting in his studio, maybe it actually was raining, and he's thinking, what does rain *look* like? Not how do I represent rain realistically, but what's the feeling of rain? What's the inner life of rain? And then he just starts drawing these straight, simple lines, almost like tears on the page. And then below, those forms, like rocks or heads, huddled together, sheltering from the storm. I see echoes of other artists in this work, maybe de Chirico. There's this beautiful sadness to it, but also something very strong, sturdy, and grounded in form, like a conversation.