Dyman Gallery | Investment Art | Art Valuations Logo

The life of Robert Gwelo Goodman

Robert Goodman had that typical artist temperament; pouring everything he had into his art, until he had nothing left at the end of every day. A soul connection would develop as the day progressed, a trademark of every great artist, among which Goodman could be found.

He arrived in London with a lot of expectation, but ended up cleaning canvases as his sponsor could no longer support him. It was during this time that his work was accepted by the Royal Academy and another two by the Royal Society of British Artists’ Exhibition.

Goodman spent a considerable amount of time travelling the world, mostly to gather reference material for his art. During his travels he made the big trek to his actual homeland, South Africa. Even though he was not a war artist, his battlefront sketches was well received.

Robert Gwelo Goodman

It was during this specific trip that he would be reunited with his old friend J.S Morland. This trip would also be remembered for Robert adding Gwelo to his name. He was particularly concerned with his difficulty of making a name for himself in England and his good friend suggested he add Gwelo, mainly for its Southern African heritage.The Rhodesian town of Gwelo was founded in 1895 and later renamed to Gweru. This would be an important milestone in his life, he launched his art career in 1895, complete with his new initials, R.G.G

By the early 1900s he was seen as a respected landscape painter and spend 1903 and 1904 in India. In 1911 Goodman contract Rheumatic fever, forcing him to take some time out at the family home outside of Johannesburg.

(photo credit: www.artuk.com and www.invaluable.com)