Philip Guston’s daughter donates 220 artworks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Musa Mayer, the daughter of celebrated artist Philip Guston, has donated hundreds of her father’s artworks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, alongside $10 million, which will be used to form an endowment fund in support of projects related to the artist’s collection.
Mayer explained in a recent statement: “My father was passionate about art and artists of the past […], yet his paintings resonate with artists working today. It’s immensely gratifying to know that his best works will find a permanent home in the company of the masters he so loved.”
She also stated that the Met’s agreement to “prominently display and permanently house Guston’s work in the city where he lived and worked is a deeply moving commitment to his legacy.”
Mayer has donated 124 drawings and 96 paintings dating between 1930 and 1980, with most of the works created during the last three decades of Guston’s life, who passed away in 1980. The gallery has been collecting Guston’s art since the 1950s, meaning that it will be home to the most extensive collection of his works worldwide when the transfer is complete.
Guston’s daughter established the Philip Guston Foundation in 2013 and has written several books about her father’s craft, including 2021’s Philip Guston. Some of her donations will be available in the Met in May 2023.
