s Odds and Ends - Hull Museums Collections

Odds and Ends

Born in Hull, Walter Goodin went on to study art at the Royal Academy Schools in London with the financial backing of Fred Elwell (1870-1958) and his wife Mary (1874-1952). Goodin kept a studio beneath Elwell's in Trinity Lane, Beverley. He and Fred's nephew Kenneth (d.1944) were close friends and both enjoyed Fred's encouragement and supervision. Still lifes, portraits and land and seascapes were amongst Goodin's most common subject matter. Odds and Ends was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1939 and was also shown at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. On its return to the Goodins' home the painting was used by Walter, face up, to protect the bath from splashes of paint while he was decorating the bathroom! The painting, probably Goodin’s finest, features a collection of objects that he and his friends assembled from attics and junk shops. The still life subject matter and close attention to detail reflect clearly the influence of his mentor Fred Elwell.