Happy Boatride 1963

Robert Goodnough made this painting with bold strokes of color—red, yellow, green, blue—like a symphony of shapes dancing on the canvas. You can almost feel the energy of his brush, the way he layers and blends the hues to create a sense of movement. I can imagine Goodnough standing before the canvas, lost in thought, maybe humming a tune as he decides where each color should go. The paint looks like it was applied quickly. See the way that yellow drips down from the sun, as if the painting is still in the process of becoming. This piece reminds me of the work of other painters, like Joan Mitchell or Helen Frankenthaler, who were also experimenting with color and form in their own ways. We're all just trying to figure out how to capture the world around us, each of us leaving a piece of ourselves on the canvas. It's all one big conversation.