Philip Guston
Gift of the Magi, 1935
Pencil on paper
29 x 19 3/4 inches
Museum purchase with funds provided through prior gift of Lois Outerbridge

The renowned painter Philip Guston was a prolific draftsman who relied on drawing as a means of exploration and regeneration. His Gift of the Magi, a sensitive and beautifully rendered pencil drawing, is titled after the wellknown O. Henry holiday story. It is a self-portrait of the young Guston with his bride, Musa McKim. Because Guston focused on mural painting in Los Angeles and New York during the 1930s, early independent drawings such as this one are rare in his oeuvre.