Robert Goodnough was an American painter known for his calligraphy like mark making. Though he was associated with the Abstract Expressionists, Goodnough’s work varied in style and often eluded categorization. “I like to work freely, to slash with the brush and let loose, I also like to work carefully and with discipline,” he once explained.

Born on October 23, 1917 in Cortland, NY, Goodnough graduated from Syracuse University, and painted in a representational style early on in his career. After serving in the military during World War II, he attended the painting classes of both Amédée Ozenfant and Hans Hofmann. The artist went on to receive his MA from New York University, and soon after fell into a milieu of artists and writers that included Willem de Kooning and Helen Frankethaler. He taught at Cornell University, New York University and the Fieldston School in New York City. He was a contributing writer for Art News from 1950-1957. He exhibited his work both in the United States and abroad. Goodnough died on October 2, 2010 in White Plains, NY at the age of 92.

His works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; Baltimore Museum of Art; Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama; Newark Museum, New Jersey; and the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.