Two Seated Figures 1955

Robert Goodnough made this painting, called Two Seated Figures, with oil on canvas. I can imagine Robert, back in the day, maybe in the 50s, stepping back and forth, puzzling over how to wrangle these two figures, chopping them into shapes with his brush. There's a real push and pull between order and chaos, a kind of cubist grid fighting with these soft, blobby figures. You know, the dark lines remind me of stained glass, but instead of saints, we've got these broken-up bodies. I bet he was thinking about Picasso, maybe even Mondrian, but he wanted something looser, more human, less, well, uptight. It’s like he's saying, "Yeah, I can break things apart, but I can also feel the weight of these bodies sitting there." It's a conversation, right? Artists riffing off each other, trying to find their own voice in the mix. It's a gorgeous mess, really.