Betty Goodwin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Betty Goodwin
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| Born |
Betty Roodish
March 19, 1923 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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| Died | December 1, 2008 (aged 85) Montreal, Quebec
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| Spouse(s) | Martin Goodwin |
Betty Roodish Goodwin (March 19, 1923 – December 1, 2008) was a famous Canadian artist. She created art using many different materials and techniques. Her art often showed deep feelings about human life.
Contents
Early Life
Betty Goodwin was born in Montreal, Quebec, on March 19, 1923. She was the only child of immigrants from Romania. From a young age, Betty loved to paint and draw. Her mother always encouraged her artistic talents.
When Betty was nine, her father, who owned a factory, passed away. After finishing high school, she went on to study design. She attended Valentine's Commercial School of Art in Montreal.
Her Artistic Journey
Betty Goodwin was a multidisciplinary artist. This means she used many different kinds of art. She worked with collage, sculpture, printmaking, painting, and drawing. She also used a technique called assemblage, which means putting different objects together.
Her art often focused on the human body. She showed human feelings in a very strong way. Many of her ideas came from photos or objects in her studio. She also used ideas that were almost erased from her earlier works.
Starting as a Painter
Goodwin began her career as a painter and printmaker in the late 1940s. In the 1950s and 60s, she painted still life pictures. These are paintings of objects like fruit or flowers. She also painted scenes of the Jewish community in Montreal.
Exploring New Techniques
In 1968, Betty took an etching class. Etching is a way of making prints. Here, she started using everyday objects and clothing in her prints. She found that these items held "traces of life." This new way of working brought her international attention.
She wasn't always happy with her art. In 1968, she even destroyed most of her work. For a while, she focused only on drawing. From 1972 to 1974, she made a series of wall hangings called Tarpaulin. She later changed these into sculptures and collages.
Famous Art Series
From 1982 to 1988, Goodwin created a series of drawings called Swimmers. These large drawings showed people floating or sinking in space. She used graphite, oil pastels, and charcoal on a special paper called Mylar.
In 1986, she made the Carbon series. These drawings used charcoal and wax. They showed how human figures interact with each other. Later, she created two more series: La mémoire du corps (1990–1995) and Nerves (1993–1995).
Betty Goodwin passed away in Montreal in December 2008.
Personal Life
Betty Goodwin was married to Martin Goodwin. He was a civil engineer. Martin also passed away in 2008.
Selected Exhibitions
Betty Goodwin's art was shown in many places. Here are some of her most important shows:
Solo Exhibitions
- 1976 - Betty Goodwin 1969-76, Musee d'art contemporian, Montreal, Quebec
- 1996 - Betty Goodwin: Signs of Life, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
- 1998 - The Art of Betty Goodwin, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
- 2002 - The Prints of Betty Goodwin, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Group Exhibitions
- 1955 - Print Exhibition, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec
- 1967 - Burnaby Print Show, Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC
- 1974 - Spanish International Biennial Exhibition of Fine Prints, Segovia, Spain
- 1986 - Installations-Fictions, Galerie Graff, Montreal, Quebec
- 1991 - Betty Goodwin, Espacc la Tranchefile, Montreal
- 1993 - Fawbush Gallery; New York, New York; Les Femmeuses 92, Pratt et Whitney Canada, Montreal, Quebec
- 1994 - La Ferme Du Buisson, Centre d'art contemporian, Noisiel, France
- 1996 - Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
- 1999 - Cosmos, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Quebec
- 2000 - Odd Bodies, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario; Betty Goodwin, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, New York
Notable Artworks
Here are some of Betty Goodwin's well-known artworks:
- 1979: Rue Mentana
- 1985: Moving Towards Fire
- 1988-89: Steel Note
Selected Collections
Betty Goodwin's art can be found in many public art collections. These include:
- The Art Gallery of Ontario
- The National Gallery of Canada
- The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
- The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
- The city of Burnaby art collection
- The Winnipeg Art Gallery
Honours and Awards
Betty Goodwin received many awards for her amazing contributions to art:
- Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award of the Canada Council for the Arts (1981)
- Banff Centre National Award for Visual Arts (1984)
- Prix Paul-Émile Borduas (1986)
- Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (1988)
- Gershon Iskowitz Prize (1995)
- Harold Town Prize in drawing (1998)
- Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2003)
- Order of Canada (2003)
- Royal Canadian Academy of Arts
- Honorary doctorates from schools across Canada
See also
In Spanish: Betty Goodwin para niños
