The centenaries of the birth of Françoise Sullivan and the late Jean Paul Riopelle would therefore have eclipsed the commemoration of Betty Goodwin, who was also born a century ago, on March 19? The year 1923 was generous for art in Quebec, with the birth of Jean McEwen… But collective memory and fame are sometimes economical, not to say miserly.
Have we forgotten the work of Goodwin, yet so glorified during his lifetime? Since his death on 1er December 2008, his creation was hardly exhibited. Roger Bellemare explains that there is often a “normal purgatory for an artist who dies old”, because “another generation arrives and pushes the previous one…”
That is all ? He adds that “the succession of Goodwin is unfortunately not yet settled” and that “for all things cultural in Quebec, general interest is often lukewarm.” Sad and realistic observation. Certainly, as Bellemare says, “museums could do something, his work being very present in their collections. In addition, Goodwin, who speaks of suffering, is very topical. But we’re looking more for entertainment in all this anxiety that’s covering the world right now.”
Christian Lambert takes the opportunity to quote Isabelle de Mévius, of Belgian origin and founding director of 1700 La Poste, who underlined how “the New World is interested in young artists, while, often, in Europe, we tend to put highlight older artists”… And, in fact, the 1700 La Poste has often presented Quebec and Canadian artists with a more extensive career, something that our Montreal museums almost no longer do… Bellemare and Lambert have, for their part, valued already recognized artists as much as emerging artists in order to create an “intergenerational dialogue”, says Roger Bellemare.
A moving work
Bellemare, who had known the artist and his work since 1971, goes on to say that, however, “Goodwin and his art were very popular with the public. During his first retrospective at the Museum of Fine Arts [en 1988], there was a crowd, a record number of visitors. People felt that there was something very human in her work, that they could have an encounter with her, that her work was both new, but at the same time universal. Betty didn’t really like meeting people, she was shy, but during this retrospective, people were able to ask her questions. A woman who told him that she was very troubled by his art asked him why, in some of his works, there is the body of a character on one side while the head of the same being is placed elsewhere in a corner of the work… Betty, who did not have the skill to explain cubism or emotional dissociation, just replied: “Sometimes, I just feel like that.“People were touched by his images which showed swimmers appearing to be drowning or being rescued…”
While we are in the process of developing a Riopelle wing at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, could we not create at least a Goodwin room in a museum in Canada? “It would be good to show it with works by Joseph Beuys… or John Heward,” added Christian Lambert. Heward, another somewhat forgotten artist… Who will we perhaps talk about again for his centenary of birth in 2034?
Fortunately, gallery owners Roger Bellemare and Christian Lambert decided to show Betty’s work Goodwin, around twenty works, mainly pieces produced between 1971 and 1979, including several etchings from 1971-1972, a period of great richness in the production of this designer. The exhibition is accompanied by 12 photographs of Goodwin’s studio taken by photographer Geoffrey James in 1994. Pending a necessary and more extensive rereading of his work…