Born in Montreal, Betty Goodwin was an internationally-renowned Jewish female artist known for investigating and “spiritualizing” found objects.
A child of the Main, Goodwin was the only offspring of Romanian Jewish immigrant parents. Her father was a significant member of Montreal’s shmata, or ready-made clothing, industry, and owned a vest factory in the Lower Plateau. When she was only nine, her father got sick and passed away, a tragedy which would go on to permeate much of her artwork.
After graduating from high school, Goodwin studied at Valentine’s Commercial School of Art in Montreal, and then launched her career as a painter and printmaker in the late 1940s. Largely self-taught, she initially produced still-life paintings and black-and-white scenes of Montreal’s bustling Jewish East Side. These illustrations brought her a great deal of attention, but Goodwin ended up destroying most of them, and searching for new modes of expression.
In 1968, she enrolled in a printmaking course under renowned Quebecois artist Yves Gaucher at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University). During this course, Goodwin began experimenting with found objects—vests, parcels, shirts, etc.—to explore themes of loss, grief and miscommunication. These etched prints catapulted her work into the international spotlight.
During the 1980s, Goodwin returned to drawing, using graphite, charcoal and oil pastels. One of her most popular series was a sequence of large scale works entitled Swimmers (1982-1988), which featured solitary, floating or sinking bodies.
Goodwin’s drawing, printmaking, sculptures and installation art earned her many awards, including the Governor General’s Award and the Order of Canada, the Harold Town Prize, the Gershon Itzkowitz Prize and the Prix Paul-Emile Borduas. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the US and Europe. In 1995, she was chosen to represent Canada in the Venice Biennial, and in 1996, she was exhibited at the National Gallery of Canada, Betty Goodwin: Signs of Life.
