Philip R. Goodwin (September 16, 1881 – December 14, 1935) was an American painter and illustrator who specialized in depictions of

wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...

, the outdoors,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

hunting Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...

and the Old American West. He provided illustrations for numerous books and magazines, as well as for commercial items, such as posters, advertisements and calendars. He is perhaps best known for illustrating Jack London's ''The Call of the Wild'' and for providing the cover art for many issues of Outdoor Recreation /

Outdoor Life ''Outdoor Life'' is an outdoors magazine about camping, fishing, hunting, and survival. It is a sister magazine of ''Field & Stream''. Together with ''Sports Afield'', they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing by Money ...

Magazine during the 1920s and early 1930s. He is also the artist who designed the Horse & Rider Trademark of the

Winchester Repeating Arms Company The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...

. Goodwin was a very private person and did not seek publicity, so not much was known about his private life during his lifetime. Most of what is known comes from letters held at the

Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the ...

Early life

Goodwin was born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1881. At age 11, he sold his first illustrated story to Collier's Magazine. Goodwin studied art at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

, the Art Students League in New York City, and the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry (now Drexel University) in Philadelphia under the well known

Howard Pyle Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy. In 1894, he began ...

. He later followed Pyle when he opened his own Howard Pyle School of Illustration Art. N.C. Wyeth, Thornton Oakley and

Frank Schoonover Frank Earle Schoonover (August 19, 1877 – September 1, 1972) was an American illustrator who worked in Wilmington, Delaware. A member of the Brandywine School, he was a contributing illustrator to magazines and did more than 5,000 paintin ...

were contemporaries of Goodwin who also studied under Pyle at that time.

Early career

Goodwin illustrated Jack London's ''

The Call of the Wild ''The Call of the Wild'' is a short adventure novel by Jack London, published in 1903 and set in Yukon, Canada, during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The central character of the novel is a dog named ...

'' in 1903 at the age of 22. He later illustrated Theodore Roosevelt's ''African Game Trails''. Goodwin opened a studio in 1904 in New York City, and became well known for his illustrations in numerous magazines and commercial items, such as posters, calendars, and catalogs. Some of the magazines in which his work appeared include:

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

, Outers' Recreation,

Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ' ...

The Popular Magazine ''The Popular Magazine'' was an early American literary magazine that ran for 612 issues from November 1903 to October 1931. It featured short fiction, novellas, serialized larger works, and even entire short novels. The magazine's subject matter ...

, and

McClure's Magazine ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wat ...

. He also did several covers for The Saturday Evening Post.

Mid-career

Goodwin became good friends with Charles Russell, staying with him at Russell's Lazy KY Ranch and his Bull Head Lodge, and also traveling with him on painting, hunting and fishing expeditions. On these expeditions, Russell and Goodwin influenced each other's painting techniques. Goodwin was also friends with

Carl Rungius Carl Clemens Moritz Rungius (August 18, 1869 – October 21, 1959) was a leading American wildlife artist. He was born in Germany though he immigrated to the United States and he spent his career painting in the western United States and Can ...

, an avid outdoorsman who taught Goodwin the finer points of hunting and surviving in the wilderness. Goodwin also met and became friends with

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

, Will Rogers, and Ernest Seton Thompson. Goodwin's calendars were published by Brown and Bigelow, the nation’s largest calendar publisher and he received substantial commissions for illustrating advertisements for the Horton Manufacturing Company (Maker of Steel fishing rods),

and

Marlin Firearms Company Marlin Firearms Co. is an American manufacturer of semi-automatic, lever-action, and bolt-action rifles. In the past, the company, now based in Madison, North Carolina, and formerly based in North Haven, Connecticut, made shotguns, derringers, ...

Late career

Goodwin ran into bad luck during the Great Depression when his savings bank failed. His work was primarily commission-based and his primary activities during that time were gun ads and calendar art, which were barely sufficient to maintain his studio.

Style

Goodwin's style is epitomized by ''The Surprise'', currently in the collection of the National Museum of Wildlife Art. The museum describes the painting: ''"... a photographer is coming upon a mother bear and her two cubs. The painting exemplifies Goodwin's open color palette, use of distance and atmosphere, and sense of humor. He painted many wildlife, hunting, fishing, and western scenes, often composed from behind the subject's shoulder."''

Collections

Goodwin is well represented in many private collections and museums featuring western and outdoor themes, including the American Museum of Natural History; the

Brandywine River Museum The Brandywine Museum of Art is a museum of regional and American art located on U.S. Route 1 in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania on the banks of the Brandywine Creek. The museum showcases the work of Andrew Wyeth, a major American realist painter, an ...

; the

; the Charles M. Russell Museum; the

Glenbow Museum The Glenbow Museum is an art and history regional museum in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The museum focuses on Western Canadian history and culture, including Indigenous perspectives. The Glenbow was established as a private non-profi ...

; the

Cowboy Hall of Fame The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of Ame ...

; the

National Museum of Wildlife Art The National Museum of Wildlife Art (NMWA) is a museum located in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, United States that preserves and exhibits wildlife art. The 51,000 square foot building with its Idaho quartzite façade was inspired by the ruins of Slains C ...

; and the

Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gro ...

Books

The primary biography on Goodwin's life and art is ''Philip R. Goodwin: Americas Sporting & Wildlife Artist''

Notes

External links

Russel Fink Gallery page on Philip R. Goodwin

National Museum of Wildlife Art page on Philip R. Goodwin

AskArt page on Philip Goodwin, with photo

* [https://books.google.com/books?id=6mZ4GQAACAAJ&dq=philip+goodwin&hl=en&ei=VL1pTYu5JsWblgfK2PX-AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA Google Books page for ''Philip R. Goodwin: Americas Sporting & Wildlife Artist'']
Winchester Firearms Company Page on the Artist that designed its logo

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Philip R. 1881 births 1935 deaths American illustrators 20th-century American painters American male painters Artists of the American West Art Students League of New York alumni 20th-century American male artists

Early life

Early career

Mid-career

Late career

Style

Collections

Books

See also

Notes

External links