While most can only imagine the lavish living quarters filled with fine china, dramatic drapery, and regal furniture that lie behind the iron-clad gates of the most exclusive addresses in America, Jeremiah Goodman has had the rare opportunity to enter and paint his impressions of the residences of the rich and famous for the past 54 years. Goodman’s expressive watercolors not only act as an archive of interior design for the second half of the 20th century, but also provide a glimpse into the artist’s unique ability to infuse a depiction of domestic space with a sense of drama and emotion second only to being there. In addition to making art based on the interiors, Goodman painted studies for rooms-to-be, creating the beautiful plans on which the rooms themselves would be based.
Jeremiah: A Romantic Vision is a 208-page retrospective of Goodman’s career, with over 80 plates of Goodman’s work, photos and ephemera from his life, and reflections from Goodman himself. Over the span of his career, Goodman has made renderings of the homes of such influential icons as President Ronald and First Lady Nancy Reagan; legendary theatre personas Mary Martin, Sir John Gielgud, and Richard Rodgers; Baron and Baroness Philippe de Rothschild; jewelry designer Elsa Peretti; Greta Garbo; Cecil Beaton; Betsy Bloomingdale; the Duchess of Windsor; fashion designers Elsa Schiaparelli and Bill Blass; Vogue editor-in-chief and fashion icon Diana Vreeland; interior designers Billy Baldwin and Mario Buatta; and famed photographer Bruce Weber; in addition to illustrating rooms for House and Garden, The New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, and Interior Design, a publication for which Goodman illustrated each month’s cover for 15 years. With an introduction by playwright Edward Albee, Jeremiah: A Romantic Vision offers a rare look at a true life of grandeur.
