Betty Roodish Goodwin

Heffel Auction House Biography and Notes

After experimenting with a variety of styles and approaches, Betty Goodwin evolved into what Teitelbaum considers her final painting stage by 1964, in which she depicts figures floating freely within the pictorial space, over abstract backgrounds. Liberated from anatomy, posture and gravity, “the figure is released into the imaginative ether, floating, falling or twisting through space in a manner that recalls the work of the Russian-born French artist Marc Chagall,’’ wrote Teitelbaum. Rendered in gestural painterly strokes, these were her most experimental works to date. Displaying Goodwin’s thickly textured brushwork, the surface of Untitled has a sketch-like quality reminiscent of her drawings, a medium she was particularly fond of. Goodwin did not shy away from challenging subjects, but rather approached them head-on, with acuteness. Through her figures, she was able to convey themes of human experience, such as disappearance, memory and resilience. Here, figures are executed in flattened planes of vivid colors colours, using gestural brushwork. The closeness between them creates tension in the composition. Within its intimate format, she skillfully captures a sense of urgency and vulnerability.