FOREST NO. 1

Goodnough, Robert

Oil on Canvas

1959

Poindexter, Everton G.

X1962.03.04

In this painting Goodnough created and abstracted representation of a forest. Comprised of multiple vertical elements painted in pinks, oranges, reds, blues, greens and yellows with the majority of the colors being pastels. Solid black lines on a diagonal are present in the lower third of the work and used to lead the viewer past the foreground and into the area of intense color and activity that dominates the central majority of the surface. White is the dominant color in this area and a unifying theme, as it is interwoven with the colored ribbons to form a wall of gestural brushstrokes. The foreground of the painting is different than this wall of color and is made up of horizontal brushstrokes, using less whites and bringing darker, muddier colors into the compostion. At the top of the painting these bold brushstrokes give way to muted passages of greys and broader washes of thin underpainting.