The project will study the painting of the American artist Philip Guston’s last decade, 1970 to 1980, when he turned from an abstract to a figurative mode. It will demonstrate how his art opens an expanded concept of allegory and it will show what the academic discipline of the History of Art stands to gain from an understanding of allegory from a renewed perspective. In addition to allegory, the study will introduce the concepts of the untimely, the inexpressive and the transmission of tradition, which have the potential to complicate and invigorate our understanding of modernism and history. The project will run for three years from 01/10/2014 to 30/09/2017.