Walter Goodman

The Pearl of the Antilles; Or, an Artist in Cuba (Dodo Press) Walter Goodman

Walter Goodman (1838-1912) was a British painter, illustrator and author. He studied with J. M. Leigh and at the Royal Academy in London, where he was admitted as a student in 1851. Beginning in 1860 Goodman undertook extensive travel to France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Spain. He spent almost three years in Florence, refining his skills by copying Old Master paintings at the Uffizi and Pitti palaces. In 1864 he travelled to the West Indies, where most of his time was spent in Santiago and Havana, Cuba, working as an artist and journalist and painting theatrical sets. He spent a few months in the United States before returning to London in the first half of 1870. In 1873 he published an account of his years in Cuba, entitled The Pearl of the Antilles; or, An Artist in Cuba, to favourable reviews. He continued to paint and write prolifically. One of his most famous paintings, The Printseller, was displayed in 1883 and a weekly essay People I Have Painted appeared in Sala's Journal between 11 February and 1 July 1893.