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Black Sea presents an audacious absurdity in oil. Obsessed with the lowly boot heel, painter Philip Guston dwells in a crude and even cruel reality. He creates a vivid, disconcerting portrait. The bare bottom of the boot heel atop dark waters. The plebeian symbol seems to rise like a Roman arch in the canvas center. But with its slanted sides, raw wood, and wonky nails, this heel’s not fooling anyone. No matter where Guston places it, a boot heel bottom holds no majesty.

This one doesn’t even have a sole to cover its shabby wooden innards. Instead of elevating the heel, Philip Guston raises questions about it. Given the title, Black Sea, viewers must check out the setting. That valiant, choppy sky’s intriguing compared to the bruteish boot bottom. Canadian American painter, Guston varies his sky brushwork. He mobilizes many hues into an active atmosphere. The sky dances around the banal boot heel. It mocks the stodgy brown stick-in-the-mud. Winds blow and toss. They change with the weather. A boot heel stays what it is – forever. There’s not much to see on the boot’s bottom. We see this crude object from the point of view of a bug. Turns out, that’s the point.

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https://www.ladykflo.com/black-sea-by-philip-guston/