According to Larry Len Peterson in Philip R. Goodwin: America’s Sporting & Wildlife Artist, “...Goodwin should be distinguished by his paintings of bears. More than other animals, Goodwin relished painting the bear– sometimes using a fierce threatening posture, or at the mercy of a hunter’s Winchester, or perhaps just looming in forest shadows. Whatever the scenario, Goodwin loved bears. As years rolled by, he became more concerned with wildlife conservation and chose to depict the mischievous and playful nature of his characters. Adopting a theme from Russell’s paintings and bronzes, Goodwin depicted bears and cubs investigating campsites, where they usually surprised their human counterparts. While Goodwin was completely at ease painting other wildlife–moose, antelope, elk, caribou, mountain goat, and big horn sheep–it remained the bear that he and his patrons most coveted.”

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, WY

LITERATURE
Larry Len Peterson, Philip R. Goodwin: America’s Sporting & Wildlife Artist (Hayden, ID: The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, 2001), p 293, illustrated print