Goodnough - "Humorous Abduction II" Abstract oil painting showing shapes in primary colors and black lines

Robert Goodnough • American (1917-2010)

Humorous Abduction II C: 1962 • Oil on Canvas 52-3/4" x 66-3/4"
Canton Museum of Art Permanent Collection • Gift of Mary Myers, 2008.15

A half century later, in a videotaped interview with ArtsWestchester, Robert Goodnough remembered meeting Picasso on that summer afternoon in the south of France. “I (realized) this guy’s got a new approach to things, more than just copying, and it kind of got me back interested in new things.” Picasso was just the first brush he had with famous avant-garde artists of the twentieth century. By nature a curious man, Goodnough sought out what he called “the avant-garde ferment.”

Back in New York after war’s end, Goodnough began hanging out with a group of artists shaking the very foundations of art. Known as the New York School, they were establishing Abstract Expressionism as the first true American art movement. A graduate art student and protégé of Tony Smith, Goodnough was right in the heart of the action and relished the opportunity to explore their world. He visited their studios, drank their wine, talked with them late into the night. The result was an important book that, over 50 years later, gives us a window into the artists driving art away from the painting of subjects toward pure abstraction. Subject Matter of the Artist: An Analysis of Contemporary Subject Matter in Painting as Derived from Interviews with those Artists Referred to as the Intrasubjectivists. Say that ten times … fast.

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It is a long, complex name for a rather lively book based on interviews with some of the most famous artists of the time. Jackson Pollock. Willem De Kooning. Mark Rothko. Robert Motherwell. Adolph Gottlieb. All are covered in a rich prose hidden behind one of the most obtuse book titles in modern history. It was pure Goodnaugh. He was a massive talent with absolutely no interest in self-promotion or staying in one place, artistically, for very long.

You could easily view Goodnough as an artistic sponge, absorbing ideas and techniques from the hoi polloi of the art world who became his friends and interview subjects. He learned montage from Picasso. Abstract shapes from De Kooning. Paint application from Rothko and Pollock. He also left behind some of the most intriguing paintings and sculptures of the Abstract Expressionist movement. And, it all started on a summer afternoon in the south of France, 162 kilometers from the frontlines of World War II.

4 Ways to Sound Smart When Viewing at The Canton Museum of Art

1.
“He had a lifelong fascination with dinosaurs and created a number of sculptures of ‘Dinny the Dinosaur’. Okay, step away from the canvas.”

2.
“He is as well known for his writings about leading abstract artists as he is for his own abstract art. He was very good at both.”

3.
“He once wrote a book titled: ‘Subject Matter of the Artist: An Analysis of Contemporary Subject Matter in Painting as Derived from Interviews with those Artists Referred to as the Intrasubjectivists.’ It was not on the Best Seller list.

4.
“His earliest work was done in a very accomplished Realistic style. Then he met Picasso and all bets were off.”

Goodnough Timeline. Scroll over images to see timeline.

1917

Born in the town of Cortland, located in the middle of New York state.

1940

Graduated from Syracuse University where he studied art. Right after graduation he enlisted in the US Army. He remained in the Army throughout World War II. His artistic talent had him painting realistic murals and portraits throughout his service.

1944

Met Pablo Picasso at his studio in the south of France. His brush with Picasso’s art and avant-garde sensibilities changed the path of both his art and his life.

1946

Upon returning to New York, he migrated to Manhattan where he studied at the Ozenfant School of Fine Art and also attended a celebrated summer school in Provincetown, Massachusetts, hosted by Hans Hofmann, a well-known Abstract Expressionist. He became friends with Willem De Kooning and Mark Rothko at a discussion group for abstract painters in Manhattan, known as The Club.

1950

Selected by art critic Clement Greenberg and art historian Meyer Schapiro to exhibit in a show of emerging artists at the Kootz Gallery. He also earned a Master’s degree in Art Education from New York University and began teaching carpentry at the Fieldston School in the Bronx.

1951

He was among the 24 artists included in the famous Ninth Street Art Exhibition, considered the coming-out party for the New York avant-garde artists who were creating Abstract Expressionism, the first major American art movement.

1952

Had his first important one-man show at renowned Manhattan gallery, Tibor de Nagy. He also wrote an article in Art News, titled, Pollock Paints a Picture. This well-known article documented Pollock’s unique drip-painting style.

1953-57

Included in the New York Painting and Sculpture Annuals every year, marking his elevation to the upper levels of American abstract art.

1960

He resigned his teaching position at the Fieldston School in the Bronx and began making a full-time living from his art.

1969

Staged a one-man show at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. This was the single most prestigious show of his career.

Early 1970s

Began shifting his style to Color Field painting. Color Field art is abstract with solid fields of color rather than the wild brushstrokes and mixed colors of early Abstract Expressionism. It is, most often, considered an offshoot of Abstract Expressionism.

1980s

His work shifted back toward his earliest abstract work heavily influenced by Mondrian, Matisse, Picasso and Cezanne.

1994

Became a full Academician in the National Academy of Design.