Jeremiah Goodman: Souvenirs

October 23-November 20, 2018
EERDMANS 14 E 10th Street New York, NY 10003

Eerdmans Fine Art is pleased to present Jeremiah Goodman: Souvenirs, a selling exhibition of over 50 original drawings and watercolors from the Jeremiah studio collection held in conjunction with the publication of the new book Jeremiah Goodman: A Collection of Interiors.

Included in the show are several illustrations created by Goodman during his tenure at Lord & Taylor. Goodman began working for the prominent department store in 1952. For over thirty years he worked under the art direction of Harry Rodman, designing windows, painting murals, and illustrating the now acclaimed advertisements. From the shelves of Lord & Taylor, Goodman illustrated whimsical depictions of products from Chanel,Étienne Aigner, and more. Also featured in the exhibition are watercolors related to Goodman’s covers for the magazine Interior Design, as well as travel sketches from his trips to England, Haiti, and beyond.

Jeremiah Goodman (1922–2017) arrived in New York City in 1940 to attend the Franklin School of Professional Art, continuinghis studies in interior decoration and commercial illustration at Parsons School of Design, then known as the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts. In 1945, Goodman moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of designing film sets. Feeling as though his talents were underutilized, the young artist moved back to New York City where he met the British actor John Gielgud. The two traveled together throughout Europe, and it was Gielgud who encouraged Goodman to paint room portraits, a pursuit which would make him the choice portraitistof celebrities and socialites when it came to the documentation of their residences.

While working for Lord & Taylor, Goodman became an illustrator of interiors of great acclaim. Goodman’s distinctive style of swift and sweeping brush strokes, accompanied by vibrant colors, catapulted him into a career producing renderings for interior designers. By the mid-1970s, his work was regarded as so captivating that he began to paint interior portraits such tastemakers as Diana Vreeland, Edith Head, Betsy Bloomingdale, Cecil Beaton, Greta Garbo, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and David Hicks who appreciated his style and wanted him capture their homes in his inimitable style. Goodman was proclaimed as a “creative interior illustrator” who was able to keep these ephemeral interiors alive with his romantic, impressionistic style. Perhaps taking inspiration from his time on Hollywood film sets, Goodman took artistic license in creating his drawings, making the rooms feel much more impactful than they may have in real life. Jeremiah Goodman had the distinct ability to take any room and transform it into a fantasy.