Narrator: At the beginning of his career, Philip Guston was best known for his abstract paintings. But starting in the 1960s, he decided to abandon this style.
Philip Guston: I suppose I was reacting against being too imaginative and wanted everything to come from things. The graining of wood, this desire for more solid forms, to make them even more objective and even recognizable.
I began drawing a subject, which I dealt with many years ago, of hooded figures. They're obviously based on Ku Klux Klan figures. But I didn't mean to make a story about the Ku Klux Klan. I'm just using them as a symbol of the war, the political conventions, the violence in the world, ever since I've been alive.
Narrator: Guston's paintings during this time show hooded figures like these, often planning, plotting, and driving around town. Their violent acts are never shown, but always implied.