Enigma Variations: Philip Guston and Giorgio de Chirico is a potent distillation of the inspiration, scholarship, and dedication of two resourceful and assiduous curators - Michael R. Taylor, Muriel and Philip Berman Curator of Modern Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Lisa Melandri, Deputy Director for Exhibitions and Programs at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

The spark for Enigma Variations was kindled when Michael Taylor was doing research for his major 2002 exhibition Giorgio de Chirico and the Myth of Ariadne and discovered a 1948 photograph that showed Philip Guston at de Chirico’s apartment in Rome. Taken during Guston’s year-long Prix de Rome, this photograph inspired Taylor to begin an exploration of the artistic and conceptual threads connecting the two artists. Poignantly illustrated by twenty-six paintings - some of which have never been seen in the United States - their story offers a unique critical lens through which to see and understand the work of these two peerless masters.