Sidney Goodman (January 19, 1936 – April 11, 2013) was an American figurative painter and draftsman from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, PA who explored the human form. Goodman received public notice in the early 1960s for his oil paintings, leading to his inclusion in the 1973

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition in ...

. In 1996, the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin Fr ...

presented a retrospective show of Goodman's paintings and drawings.

Biography

Sidney Goodman was born in South Philadelphia in 1936, the son of Russian Jewish immigrant parents who came to America in the 1920s. His father was a furrier and his mother was an actress in the Yiddish theatre. In 1954, Goodman enrolled in the

Philadelphia College of Art Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

, (now University of the Arts) graduating in 1958. Goodman entered the Army, serving from 1958-59. In 1961, his debut exhibition in New York City at the

Terry Dintenfass Terry Dintenfass (April 4, 1920 – October 26, 2004) was an American art dealer. Career Terry Dintenfass established her first gallery, the D Contemporary, in 1954

Gallery received high praise. At the age of 27, Time magazine described Goodman as "one of the most respected and sought-after of the new figure painters." He received critical attention for his New York debut exhibition and was awarded the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

Neysa McMein Purchase Award. He began teaching at the

starting in 1960. He would teach there until the spring of 1978, when he joined the faculty of the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Goodman taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts until 2011, when he retired. Goodman received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in 1964. He was selected to be part of the 1973

. The Museum of Art at the Pennsylvania State University organized a major show that traveled in 1980-81. From 1978 to 2011, Goodman taught at the

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Goodman had nineteen one-person shows at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery between 1961 and 1996. In 1996, the

presented a retrospective of Goodman's paintings and drawings. From 1960 to 1978, he was married to the artist Eileen Goodman, with whom he had one child, Amanda, in 1965. In 1980 Goodman married the artist and lifelong model/muse, Pamela McCabe. They had two children, Luke in 1986 and Maia in 1989. In 1986, Goodman received the Hazlette Memorial Award for Excellence in the Arts (Painting). In 2006, he received an honorary doctorate from

Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts The Lyme Academy of Fine Arts is an art school in Old Lyme, Connecticut. From 1992 to 2019 it was a degree-granting institution, and from 2016 it was constituent college of the University of New Haven, as Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts. Histo ...

Artistic practice

Goodman, using oil paint, pastel, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, forged a style through direct observation, creative imagination, and prolonged study of European and American masters, employing a figurative and allegorical approach lodged in modern urban and suburban subject matter. He often renders his subjects with moody or ominous lighting. Goodman said of light:

Light has its own power and mystery. Things that I am attracted to come by light - the way things are formed by the use of light.

Goodman's work is noted as exemplary of a renewal of figurative realism in 1960s. In the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', Brian O'Doherty reviews his show, describing his imagery as "a modern apocalypse influenced by

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...

and Gray's ''Anatomy''." Critics noted Goodman's examination of "expressive distortions of the human form, and connected him to the work of postwar figurative artists such as

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

. Art historian and curator

Anne d'Harnoncourt Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt (September 7, 1943 – June 1, 2008) was an American curator, museum director, and art historian specializing in modern art. She was the director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), a post she held from 19 ...

describes Goodman's work as encompassing "both his fascination with capturing the characteristic shapes, features, and gestures of humanity (whether drawn from his family and friends or from newspaper snapshots) and his drive to incorporate them into disturbing compositions that convey complex, even contradictory meanings." From 1963 on, Goodman used a polaroid camera as a visual sketchbook, his studio full of photos he took and other references that inspired him. From the mid 1960s until the late 1970s he was particularly concerned with what he calls "the violated landscape'—inanimate structures (water tanks, gas tanks, dumpsters, stadiums, incinerators, out of scale buildings) that threaten the harmony of nature." Goodman noted: "I sometimes paint a realistic picture in order to justify logically something unreal." Goodman featured his family and himself as the primary subject of his many portraits. He found inspiration in the work of

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

and Velázquez. In 1996, he said that shows and reviews always were secondary to what was happening daily in his studio.

If the painting is going well, that's the main thing. If it's not going well, then all the other stuff isn't going to help. I felt that way back in the '60s, and I feel that way today.

Awards and appointments

*1957 Yale-Norfolk Fellowship *1958

, Gimbel Prize in Painting *1961

, Neysa McMein Purchase Award *1962

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Purchase *1964

*1971

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

, New York *1971

(The Alumni Award) *1974

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Fellowship *1985

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 t ...

, Skowhegan, ME *1987

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

(Visiting Professor) *1991

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, Athens, GA (Lamar Dodd Professorial Chair) *1996

Art Institute of Boston Lesley University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of 2018-19 Lesley University enrolled 6,593 students (2,707 undergraduate and 3,886 graduate). History ...

(Honorary Degree) *1999

Vermont Studio Center The Vermont Studio Center (VSC) is a non-profit arts organization located in the town of Johnson, Vermont. It conducts the largest fine arts and writing residency program in the United States, with a significant population of international artis ...

(Visiting Professor)

Selected exhibition history

*1961 - 1996 Nineteen Solo Shows -

Terry Dintenfass Terry Dintenfass (April 4, 1920 – October 26, 2004) was an American art dealer. Career Terry Dintenfass established her first gallery, the D Contemporary, in 1954

Gallery - New York, NY *1962 -

, Annual Exhibition *1963 -

, Annual Exhibition *1968 -

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

, Washington, D.C. *1970 -

*1975 -

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III ...

Williamsburg, VA *1980 - Sidney Goodman: Paintings, Drawings, and Graphics 1959-1979 Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University (

Palmer Museum of Art The Palmer Museum of Art is the art museum of Pennsylvania State University, located on the University Park campus in State College, Pennsylvania. Collections The museum has an increasing permanent collection of more than 7,000 works. The colle ...

Columbus Museum of Art The Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formed in 1878 as the Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts (its name until 1978), it was the first art museum to register its charter with the state of Ohio. The museum collect ...

Queens Museum The Queens Museum, formerly the Queens Museum of Art, is an art museum and educational center located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States. The museum was founded in 1972, and has among its pe ...

Delaware Art Museum The Delaware Art Museum is an art museum located on the Kentmere Parkway in Wilmington, Delaware, which holds a collection of more than 12,000 objects. The museum was founded in 1912 as the Wilmington Society of the Fine Arts in honor of the artis ...

*1981 -

The Arkansas Arts Center The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, is an art museum located in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum is undergoing an expansion and renovation. During this time, it is closed to the ...

, Little Rock, AR *1981 - Sidney Goodman Recent Work,

Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU in Richmond (ICA at VCU), also known as the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art at the Markel Center, is an arts center at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia. It was designed by architecture fir ...

, VA, Boston University Art Gallery *1984 - Sidney Goodman Recent Work,

Wichita Art Museum The Wichita Art Museum is an art museum located in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The museum was established in 1915, when Louise Caldwell Murdock’s Will which created a trust to start the Roland P. Murdock Collection of art in memory of her ...

*1985 -

, Pertaining to Philadelphia, Part V: Sidney Goodman *1987 -

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

, Swarthmore, PA - Sidney Goodman: Drawings 1975-1985 *1991 -

Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum in Philadelphia. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated to e ...

*1991 -

Georgia Museum of Art The Georgia Museum of Art is an art museum in Athens, Georgia, United States, associated with the University of Georgia (UGA). The museum is both an academic museum and, since 1982, the official art museum of the state of Georgia. The permanent co ...

, Athens, GA *1994 -

Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art The is located in Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Designed by Arata Isozaki, it sits on a hill straddling the three wards of Kokura Kita, Tobata, and Yahata Higashi. The museum houses more than 6,000 pieces of art, as well as of ...

, New York Realism, Past and Present *1996 -

, Retrospective *1999 - Eli Marsh Gallery,

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

, Amherst, MA *2000, 2003, 2005 - ACA Gallery, New York *2007 - Samuelis Baumgarte Galerie, Essen, Germany *2007 - Seraphin Gallery, Philadelphia, PA *2008 -

Rose Art Museum The Rose Art Museum, founded in 1961, is a part of Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US. Named after benefactors Edward and Bertha Rose, it offers temporary exhibitions, and it displays and houses works of art from the permanent col ...

, Brandeis University *2009 - Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts - Sidney Goodman: Man in the Mirror

Permanent collections

''Selected Permanent Collections'' *

Arkansas Art Center The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), formerly known as the Arkansas Arts Center, is an art museum located in MacArthur Park, Little Rock, Arkansas. The museum is undergoing an expansion and renovation. During this time, it is closed to the ...

, Little Rock, AR *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, Chicago, IL *

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

, Brooklyn, NY *

Butler Institute of American Art The Butler Institute of American Art, located on Wick Avenue in Youngstown, Ohio, United States, was the first museum dedicated exclusively to American art. Established by local industrialist and philanthropist Joseph G. Butler, Jr., the museum h ...

, Youngstown, OH *

Hirshhorn Museum The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was des ...

( Smithsonian American Art Museu)) Washington, D.C. *

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, New York, NY *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York, NY *

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

, Washington, D.C. *

, Penn State University, PA *

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. *

, Philadelphia, PA *

, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA *

, New York, NY

References

External links

Sidney Goodman 1936-2013 - Whitney MuseumARTNET: Sidney Goodman (American, 1936–2013)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Sidney Artists from Philadelphia University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni University of the Arts (Philadelphia) faculty 1936 births 2013 deaths Social realist artists National Endowment for the Arts Fellows 20th-century American painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists University of California, Davis faculty University of Georgia faculty Jewish American artists Jewish painters American male painters American realist painters 21st-century American Jews 20th-century American male artists