VERSO
Label, Christie’s, New York, New York
Label, Scottsdale Art Auction, Scottsdale, Arizona

According to Goodwin biographer Dr. Larry Len Peterson, “A hero needs an antagonist, which in Goodwin’s classic paintings came in the form of a bear. Many of Goodwin’s most memorable and effective predicament paintings were achieved when a river runs through it. The living water provides the physical distance to make the storytellers outcome more uncertain. Unpredictability is the key. And of course, the river represents humanity with all of its good and bad. Every artist has some imagination. Goodwin was just blessed with more than most. Three predicaments arise in this fine example. Will the bear round the corner and disappear before a shot is fired? Will the huge boulder in the river obstruct a clear shot? And if necessary, will the raft take them downstream quick enough to bag their prize?

“Another key to the artistic success of both Goodwin and his friend Charles M. Russell was the use of the inverted pyramidal/triangular composition. Placed in the foreground, Russell’s horses and humans were highlighted with white paint to guide the viewer’s eyes to the beginning of the visual narrative. Likewise, Goodwin implemented red shirts to the same effect. In 1920 he wrote Russell, ‘If you see any works of mine with red shirted cow boys don’t blame me. It is as the man who pays for it would have it. Some of them won’t give me an order unless I make a red shirt and yellow sky.’ The lament of every illustrator.

“Even though Goodwin illustrated Jack London’s immensely popular The Call of the Wild (1901), President Theodore Roosevelt’s monumental African Game Trails (1909) and Winchester’s ubiquitous Horse and Rider trademark logo (1919), over the decades after his death Goodwin fell into relative obscurity. This was the fate of many artists who died during the Great Depression of the 1930s. But the Great Awakening erupted a few years ago. Goodwin is currently one of the hottest Western American artists, routinely eclipsing his own auction records.

“Soft lands create soft people. That’s why the artist packed his paintings with manly friends, wild rivers, dangerous forests, and majestic mountain peaks. Goodwin was haunted by waters.”

PROVENANCE
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Private collection, Idaho
Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, Reno, Nevada, 2010
Scottsdale Art Auction, Scottsdale, Arizona, 2012
William I. Koch Collection, Palm Beach, Florida
Christie’s, New York, New York, 2015
Private collection, Alaska

EXHIBITED
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1972
The Pulps and the Sticks: The Golden Age of Western Illustration, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1991-92

LITERATURE
Larry Len Peterson, Philip R. Goodwin: America’s Sporting & Wildlife Artist, Coeur d’Alene Art Auction and Settlers West Galleries, 2001, p. 309, illustrated

Additional Resources

• Philip R. Goodwin’s Past Results
• View Condition Report

Condition ReportSurface is in good condition. Several hairline cracks in sky. No signs of restoration.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.