As the leaves continue to change color and the weather gets chilly, here at the Luther W. Brady Gallery we have been enjoying the start of fall and looking forward to Halloween! But if you have been having trouble getting into the spooky spirit (and even if you haven’t), this painting in the GW Collection (which has been exhibited multiple times at both the Dimock and Brady Art Galleries!) will certainly give you the chills.
In 1965, Sidney Goodman completed his eerie oil painting, The Pool. At first glance, you may think this painting seems more like a summer scene than a fall, but look closer! You will notice it is filled with figures who appear to be not quite human. The man in the pool has only his head above the water with blurry shapes instead of eyes. At the table another man is sitting still and staring forward at the viewer with an empty expression. The lifeguard is perched on the tower with her face cloaked in shadows. And perhaps most unsettling is the woman in the chair who has no head, but still seems to be reading. Pitch blackness stretches out behind all of them, giving the scene a contradictory mood as the lighting at the pool appears to imply it is the middle of the day.
The artist of this piece, Sidney Goodman, was an American realist painter who rose to prominence in the 1960s. He was born in 1936 in Philadelphia and was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants. Goodman attended the Philadelphia College of the Arts before enlisting in the army for a year and then taking up a career teaching art in universities. All the while he continued to paint and test out more experimental themes and styles in his works. He was well-known for both figure and landscape paintings done in the American Realist style which he often imbued with a metaphysical quality. This month is the perfect time to explore more of his works which have been described “disturbing” and “apocalyptic.” Goodman himself said about his work that “I sometimes paint a realistic picture in order to justify logically something unreal.” And this quality of his work is clearly on display in The Pool.
As viewers, we are drawn into the painting under the impression that it is a normal scene of a day at the pool. It appears as a mundane moment that many of us have likely experienced before. Only upon closer inspection do we notice the inconsistencies and peculiarities of the picture that give it a sense of unease. The fact that it is these small, less obvious details that give this piece its disturbing tone leads us to pause and reflect on what else goes on around us everyday that we may not notice. Keep an eye out for a glimpse of unreality this month. Happy Halloween!
-Alys Gross (BA ’23)
wow! this has certainly put me in the halloween spirit. i will have to check out more of sidney goodman’s work.