Arthur Clifton Goodwin (1845 - 1932). Arthur Clifton Goodwin was an American impressionist painter, known for his views of Boston. Goodwin was born into the family of a ship caulker employed at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. The family later moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts. After his father's death, Goodwin lived with his mother in Chelsea, near Boston. He took up various activities, becoming increasingly interested in painting. After his mother's death in 1899, Goodwin discovered his artistic calling. In the same year, at an exhibition held in Boston, he probably saw the works of Claude Monet. He may also have known about city scenes painted by Boston native Childe Hassam, a member of the group of American Impressionists known as the Ten American Painters. Goodwin did not receive formal artistic education, and shaped his technique and style based on the works of other artists that he saw in studios and galleries of the time. Although Goodwin was virtually self-taught, he managed to gain the recognition of John Singer Sargent and Childe Hassam, who called him the greatest painter in Boston. He also knew art collector and patron of artists Isabella Stewart Gardner. But his main sponsor became Louis Kronberg, in whose studio Goodwin first began to paint. His friendship with Kronberg provided him with emotional and financial support throughout his career. In 1919, Kronberg moved to New York, and Goodwin decided to follow him. In 1920 he came to New York. In 1922 he married and settled with his wife in Chatham, New York, but alcohol-related problems led to the breakdown of his marriage and his return to Boston in 1929. There he lived the life of an impoverished artist, abusing alcohol. Louis Kronberg often lived with him, taking care of him and making sure he didn't drink too much. Although Goodwin had never studied in Paris, he intended to go to France and become directly acquainted with the works of the French Impressionists, but after a drinking party he was found dead in his Boston studio, with tickets to Paris in his pocket. In 1974, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston organized a major retrospective exhibition of Goodwin's work, after which his works were sought after and collected by leading institutions and individual collectors around the world. Goodwin painted oil paintings and pastels. Described as the Painter of Boston, he is known primarily for his impressionistic, spontaneously painted views of docks, harbors, landscapes and cityscapes around Boston, Gloucester and New York. In 1920, in his Manhattan studio, he painted Washington Square Park, a masterful, impressionistic cityscape, reminiscent of his earlier views of Boston parks, often painted in rain or snow, with churches, crowds of people, and horse-drawn carriages. Goodwin was, above all, an avid landscape painter, strongly identified with the White Mountains and the painters he met there. The artist painted en plein air, like John Joseph Enneking before him, traveling around the North Conway area and sketching summer views, including landscapes with the Saco River as a subject. Goodwin's works can be found in, among others, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, St. Botolph Club in Boston, Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Colby College in Waterville, New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Lowe Art Museum in Coral Gables, Georgia Museum of Art in Athens, Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, and Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo.