Biography

Goodman was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. She studied at Queen's College, London

Queen's College, London

Queen's College is an independent school for girls aged 11–18. It is located in central London at numbers 43-49, Harley Street. Founded in 1848 by F. D. Maurice, Professor of English Literature and History at King's College London along with a committee of patrons, the College was the first...

 from 1972 to 1979 and Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, London from 1979 to 1984, followed by the Royal Academy Schools, London from 1984 to 1987. She won the Royal Academy Gold Medal in 1987, and the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2002.

Goodman's first solo exhibition was at Cadogan Contemporary Fine Art in London in 1988, with a further three exhibitions there in 1990, 1992 and 1995. She had a solo show at Theo Waddington Fine Art, London in 1997, and took part in a two-person show at Marlborough Fine Art, London, in 2004, with David Dawson

David Dawson

David Dawson may refer to:*David Thomas Dawson , American convicted murderer*David Dawson , English actor*David Dawson , , British choreographer*David Dawson , Painter*David Dawson , Canadian poet...

In 2006 she was invited to take part in the exhibition Drawing Inspiration, a survey of contemporary drawing in art at the Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal. She then staged a solo exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art, London, in 2008.

In 2008 she was also asked to judge Hung, Quartered and Drawn! a drawing competition at the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

 in London.

Goodman is well known on the London art scene as the Artistic Director of The Prince's Drawing School an independent charitable art school in London's east end. She lives in London and is represented by Marlborough Fine Art in London.

Style and Influences

Goodman's paintings are figurative, in the School of London tradition, showing a strong emphasis on drawing and the physicality of paint. Her subject matter includes portraits, but also interior scenes and city landscapes. Writing on Goodman's winning entry for the 2002 BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, a portrait of Father Antony Sutch, Headmaster of Downside School in Somerset, Elizabeth Grice described it as having, 'the quiet authority of an icon'. The portrait took two years to paint, and is typical of Goodman's methodical way of working. In her own words she is a fast painter, she spends 'a very long time on my pictures and I destroy a fair amount.'

As well as working directly from life Goodman will work from photographs, but she is an artist who places a great deal of emphasis on drawing skills. She has described this as an essential part of art, as the means for "recreating from life a three-dimensional reality on a two-dimension space.".

Further reading

• Marlborough Fine Art, Two London Painters: Catherine Goodman and David Dawson (London: Marlborough Fine Art, 2004)
• Rosie Boycott, Catherine Goodman (London: Marlborough Fine Art, 2008)

External links

• Marlborough Artists' Pages