Sidney Goodman Figures In A Landscape

In this exceedingly powerful painting, “Figures in a Landscape” painted in 1972 by Sidney Goodman, a child, woman, and man are in what looks to be a park because of the sandbox and blue and red swing set. In the background the mountains are bright and happy with houses surrounded by many tall green trees. On the right side of the painting is a huge dark gloomy cloud like when a murder is about to occur in a horror movie. The figures look like something is going on in their mind, maybe they are unhappy with each other or something is really upsetting them. When I see this painting I feel as if the figures are in there own world not aware of their surroundings. The way they are portrayed separate and as figures tells me that that they aren't what they are supposed to be…”a family”. They maybe there in the painting but not mentally there. In the painting, I see these three people, one child a man and a woman. The child is seated on a fiery red Hippity Hop Ball, wearing a dark deep ocean blue coat. She is placed in the middle of the woman and the man in the painting. She seem to be sad because of the way her small body lumbers over the fire-engine red ball. Goodman could have made her coat in blue for a reason, blue symbolizing knowledge. She doesn’t look like she wants to be at the park with those two …show more content…
He is seated on the orange wooden chair with a dark dirty orange button up shirt. As most men, emotionless, he sits there with an angry straight face as well looking as if nothing is going on. He also is in his own world not aware that he's at a park with two other people. The background on his side is more dark in color and mysterious. A huge rain cloud above him and the child is dark grey can symbolize sadness. Maybe the child and man are sad and have different ways of showing it. It could be sadness about the woman doing something to them, like maybe betraying