Sidney Goodman Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1936 - d. 2013

Sidney Goodman (January 19, 1936 – April 11, 2013) was an American figurative painter and draftsman from Philadelphia, PA who explored the human form.[1] Goodman received public notice in the early 1960s for his oil paintings, leading to his inclusion in the 1973 Whitney Biennial.[2][3] In 1996, the Philadelphia Museum of Art presented a retrospective show of Goodman's paintings and drawings.

Sidney Goodman was born in South Philadelphia in 1936,[1] the son of Russian Jewish immigrant parents[4] 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, (now University of the Arts) graduating in 1958.[5] Goodman entered the Army, serving from 1958-59.[6]

In 1961, his debut exhibition in New York City at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery received high praise.[7] At the age of 27, Time magazine described Goodman as "one of the most respected and sought-after of the new figure painters."[1] He received critical attention for his New York debut exhibition and was awarded the Whitney Museum of American Art Neysa McMein Purchase Award.[3][8]

He began teaching at the Philadelphia College of Art 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.[5] Goodman taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts until 2011, when he retired.[1]

Goodman received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964.[8] He was selected to be part of the 1973 Whitney Biennial.[8] 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.[9] Goodman had nineteen one-person shows at the Terry Dintenfass Gallery between 1961 and 1996.[10] In 1996, the Philadelphia Museum of Art presented a retrospective of Goodman's paintings and drawings.[2] 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.[2] 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.