The Cat Approaches, 1974

  • Brenda Goodman, American, born 1943

Oil and pencil on canvas

  • Unframed: 66 × 51 inches (167.6 × 129.5 cm) Framed (slat frame): 66 1/2 × 51 1/2 inches (168.9 × 130.8 cm)

Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad H. Smith Memorial Fund and the Gertrude Kasle Gallery

74.183

Department

Contemporary Art after 1950

The raw emotional power of Goodman’s work sets her apart from others of the Cass Corridor group. Her paintings from the early 1970s are characterized by cryptic images, particularly organic shapes suggestive of body parts. These recurring symbols, set in fantastic combinations, explore the anxiety of living in a threatening city as well as hinting at personal tragedy.

Signed and dated, lower right: B. Goodman '74

1974-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

Bulletin of the DIA 54, 2 (1975): p. 114. Arts and Crafts in Detroit. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1976, p. 232, no. 299 (ill.). "Family Art Game." DIA Advertising Supplement. Detroit News/Detroit Free Press (April 18, 1982): p. 37 (ill.). "Family Art Game." DIA Advertising Supplement. Detroit News (April 29, 1984): p. 17 (ill.). Bulanda, George. "The Cat Approaches." Hour Detroit (April 2012): p. 33.

Brenda Goodman, The Cat Approaches, 1974, oil and pencil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad H. Smith Memorial Fund and the Gertrude Kasle Gallery, 74.183.