Walter Goodman (11 May 1838 – 20 August 1912) was an English painter, illustrator and author.
He was the son of English portrait painter Julia Salaman (1812–1906) and London linen draper and town councillor, Louis Goodman (1811–1876).
In 1846 he enrolled at J. M. Leigh's drawing Academy at 79 Newman Street, where he was the youngest pupil. In 1851, after fours years at Leigh's Academy, he was admitted as a student to the Royal Academy in London.The Biograph and Review Volume IV For the Second Six Months of 1880 , E.W.Allen
Recent research has unearthed details of more than one hundred works by Goodman. The present whereabouts of most these are unknown, notable exceptions being The Printseller's Window (c. 1882), acquired by the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester in 1998, portraits of actresses Mary Anne Keeley (also known as Mrs. Keeley at Fourscore) and Fanny Stirling (1885), both in the collection of London's Garrick Club, A Kitchen Cabinet (1882) in a private collection in the US, Fresh and Pure (1882) and a Cuban scene, Home of the Bamboo, in a private collection in Sweden. Several sketches, paintings and water colours, are still in the possession of Walter Goodman's descendants.
Early work Shortly after 1851 Goodman embarked upon a six-month walking tour around England and Wales, taking portraiture and sketching commissions along the way – most notably that of James Henry Cotton, Dean of Bangor. Upon returning to London Goodman concentrated on figure subjects. His first original work Doctoring The Cane,The Liverpool Academy and Other Exhibitions of Contemporary Art in Liverpool 1774–1867. Edward Morris & Emma Roberts. Liverpool University Press and National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside (1998). p. 262. was exhibited at The Liverpool Academy in 1858, and in 1859 at The British Institution on Pall Mall in London.Wood, Christopher. Victorian Painters. 3rd ed. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1995. Pressmark: Ref 759.2 WOOThe British Institution 1806-1867. Algernon Graves F.S.A. Doctoring the Cane was exhibited and sold as an Art Union prize at the annual exhibition in Manchester, probably in 1859.
Another of Goodman's early works is his depiction of the 1858 trial of Dr Simon Bernard over the attempted assassination of Napoleon III. The painting hung in the Tavistock Square home of Goodman's uncle, Sir John Simon (1818–1897), who worked on the trialJewish Chronicle 2 July 1897. p. 21 as Edwin James' junior.R v. Bernard 8 St. Tr. N.S. 887, (1858) 1 F&F 240
Around this time Goodman toured the provinces with a theatrical company, having gained employment as a scenery painter, after which he was commissioned by the United States to produce a series of panoramic views in Distemper (paint) depicting the Crimean War. A publication of 1859 refers to Goodman as a scene painter and goes on to describe Goodman's (and various siblings') appearance in an amateur play staged at the Baker Street, London home of another uncle, the composer Charles Kensington Salaman (1814–1901). The production received glowing reviews.Jewish Chronicle 13 May 1859. p. 8 A somewhat comical flyer from the same year, of a production at the Goodman family home at Mabledon Place in London, describes Goodman as a hammerteur artist (alluding to the fact that he also constructed the scenery).
In 1861 Goodman's painting of the Interior of The Cathedral of San Lorenzo, Genoa was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy.Baile de Laperrière, Charles, ed. The Royal Scottish Academy exhibitors 1826–1990. Calne: Hilmarton Manor, 1991. Pressmark: Ref 709.2GB The British Institution also exhibited Bible Stories in 1861. In 1862 The Liverpool Society of Fine Arts exhibited Il Monte della Croce, San Miniato, Florence and Interior of The Cathedral of San Lorenzo, Genoa.
Travels in Europe Beginning in 1860 Goodman undertook extensive travel to France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain.Dr. Hermann Alex. Müller, Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, Leipzig, 1882 He spent almost two years in Florence, beginning in 1861, refining his skills by copying Old Master paintings at the Uffizi and Pitti palaces. There he met fellow artist, Joaquín Cuadras, whom he painted several times, and the renowned Spanish painter Mariano Fortuny.
One of Goodman's favourite destinations was Spain – he was fluent in Spanish and Italian.The Theatre 1 November 1885. p. 241 He travelled with Cuadras to Barcelona in 1862, where he spent almost a year, before returning alone, via Marseille and Paris, to England and, later, Scotland (where he again met up with Cuadras). In Edinburgh, he resided for a short time during 1864 with his journalist brother, Edward, then an assistant to Edinburgh Courant publisher, James Hannay, whom he painted (exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1864), as well as author David Smith (brother of the poet Alexander Smith). Another work, entitled Head was also exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy the same year.Jewish Chronicle 21 April 1893 p. 17
Travels in the West Indies In 1864, now rejoined by Cuadras, Goodman travelled to RomeJewish Chronicle 17 October 1873. p. 483 and then on to Saint-Nazaire in France where, on 16 April 1864, they set sail on the French steamer VeracruzA paper by Dr. Maria Teresa Fleitas-Monnar, 'Joaquin Cuadras, A Genre Painter in Santiago de Cuba (19th Century)', Universidad de oriente, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba) to the West Indies,Pearl of The Antilles or An Artist in Cuba, London: H.S.King & Co.1871 Chapter 1 arriving in Santiago, Cuba on 9 May at 9.30 am Goodman's personal scrapbook or 10 May 1864.Sala's Journal 13 May 1893. pp. 440–441
Upon arrival in Santiago, Goodman and Cuadras lodged with Cuadras' sister, Amalia, at 113 Enramadas Street. A month later, they rented a house on Santa Rosa Street, in the Tivoli district, and installed a studio there.Pearl of The Antilles or An Artist in Cuba, London: H.S.King & Co.1871 Most of Goodman's time in the West Indies was spent in Santiago and Havana, Cuba, working as an artist and journalist and painting theatrical sets. He also appeared in many stage productions, putting his fluency in Spanish to good use.The Theatre 1 January 1886
In 1868, Goodman designed and built a triumphal arch on Calle de Marina in Santiago de Cuba. It was reported as being forty-five feet high, and thirty-five feet wide, covered with new pine boards and built in the Norman style of the facades of the Tower of London and Canterbury Cathedral. On its four columns and both fronts there were allegorical figures painted in white and gold, representing Commerce, Industry, Agriculture, and Justice. In addition, Goodman painted seven war scenes recalling the deeds of General Laureano: Miranda de Arga, June 25, 1834—Siege and blockade of Zaragoza, 1843—Deeds of Oporto, 1846—Campaign of Portugal, 1847—General Staff of Madrid, March 7, 1848—General Staff of Catalonia, May 17, 1848—Campaign of Italy, 1849. It is painted in yellow and red tones, ornamented with green leaves. On top was a shield dedicated to Francisco de Lersundi Hormaechea, the Captain General of Cuba. At night the arch was illuminated and could be seen from the bay and Calle de Marina.Diario de Santiago de Cuba 30 April 1868
During his time in Cuba, Goodman contributed articles and letters to the New York Herald, using the pen name el Caballero Inglese. In this capacity he travelled to Port Royal in Jamaica in August 1868 in connection with the laying of the undersea cable between Cuba and Jamaica.The Jamaica Guardian 7 August 1868 He wrote a series of articles about his Jamaican trip, entitled Un Viaje al Estranjero. These were subsequently published in English, in a journal in Kingston. Whilst in Cuba, the Spanish light comedian Don Baltasar Torrecillas asked Goodman to adapt Maddison Morton's farce Box and Cox for the Spanish stage. He also painted scenery for the theatre in Santiago with which Torrecillas was connected.
In 1864 Goodman, Cuadras, and a servant were sketching in the Santiago area, when they were arrested by the military and imprisoned in the subterannean dungeons of the Morro Castle,Pearl of The Antilles or An Artist in Cuba, London: H.S.King & Co. 1871 Chapter 8 under suspicion of making plans of the castle fortifications. They remained incarcerated until the English Vice-Consul, Mr F. W. Ramsden, supported by Cuadras' influential friends, interceded for their release.Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 1 September 1864 The Ten Years' War broke out towards the end of 1868 – and Goodman's involvement in this forced him to flee Cuba. So abrupt was his departure from the island that many of the sketches and paintings which he and Cuadras had intended to transport to Europe, were left behind and never recovered.
Boarding the American steamer Morro CastlePearl of The Antilles or An Artist in Cuba, London: H.S.King & Co.1871 Chapter 30 in January 1870,Jewish Chronicle 5 February 1875. p. 18 Goodman and Cuadras visited Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo and other islands. Goodman and Cuadras parted company here and Cuadras travelled on to Jamaica, whilst Goodman continued on to New York City.
Prolific period Goodman spent only a few months in the United States before returning to London in the first half of 1870Goodman's own notes in a scrapbook covering this periodThe Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Volume 5 when he painted portraits of Sir Thomas Brassey MP, his wife, Lady Anna Brassey, their children, and Mr. Brassey senior. The Brassey portraits were hung at the Brassey estate at Normanhurst Court in Sussex.The Herald and Observer 24 September 1870 The same year he painted a Portrait of a Young Boy on a Horse, which was sold at Christie's in London in July 1998.British and Continental Watercolours and Drawings Thursday 23 July 1998 at 10.30 a.m. Lot 91 p. 15
In 1871 he exhibited a portrait of Evelyn, Daughter of G.J.Reid, Esq. of Tunbridge Wells at the Royal Academy and his portrait of his uncle, Serjeant Simon M.P. was displayed at the Royal Oak Hotel in Simon's constituency of Dewsbury, Yorkshire.Jewish Chronicle 24 November 1871. p. 14Yorkshire Post 13 November 1871 Photographic evidence exists of three portraits from 1871 to 1872, entitled Master Nicholls, Mr N Birkenruth, and Mrs N Birkenruth.
In 1872 Goodman contributed a piece entitled A Cigarette Manufacturer at Havana to the London Society magazine and one called General Tacon's Judgmen to the Daily Pacific Tribune, a Washington newspaper. In 1873 he published an account of his years in Cuba, entitled The Pearl of the Antilles, or An Artist in Cuba, to favorable reviews (reprinted in Cuba in 1986). The book was based upon a series of humorous sketches first published in Charles Dickens' periodical All the Year Round. The same year he contributed some sketches of Santiago to The Graphic magazine.