|
|
Steve Kagan Lee Godie (Holding Rolled Canvases) 1985 Silver Gelatin Print Edition 1 of 25 17 1/8 x 20 7/8 inches LGSK 2
copyrighted Stevekagan.com |
|
|
Women (Out of Space) (Woman in red with red eyelashes) Paint and Ballpoint Pen on Canvas 18 x 18 inches LGBS 6 |
|
|
The Seagull (Pink Seagulls) Paint and Pen on Canvas 18 x 19¼ inches LGBS 11 |
|
|
Miss Gibbson (sic) (Gibson Girl in Profile) Ballpoint Pen on Canvas 18 x 15 7/8 inches LGBS 15 |
|
|
Untitled (Lady in Hat with Long Hair) Pen on canvas 18 ¼ x 17 ¾ inches LGBS 25
|
|
|
Untitled (Male) |
|
|
Egyptian Girls
|
 |
Untitled (2 rust-colored branches) Pen, watercolor on canvas 17 ¾ x 49 ¾ inches LG 71
|
 |
Double Male Portrait Pen, watercolor on canvas 22 x 29 ½ inches LG 120
|
 |
A Bi-Centennial Oil on canvas 26 ¼ x 22 inches c. 1976 LG 182
|
 |
Daisies (Lavendare (sic) Background) Oil on canvas, shellac finish (with photo booth picture) 20 x 42 ¼ inches c. 1978 LG 194
|
 |
Sweet Sixteen Chalk and pen on paper 38 x 25 ¼ inches c. 1978 LG 195
|
 |
Girl in Orange 18 ½ x 19 inches LG 220
|
 |
Male portrait Pen on canvas 26 x 15 inches LG 121
|
 |
Green Twigs Pen, watercolor on canvas 18 x 25 inches c. 1970s LG 126
|
 |
Valentine Face Pen, crayon on canvas 50 ½ x 38 ¾ inches CHG 216 (formerly G-4)
|
|
In 1968, a French Impressionist artist appeared on the stairway of the Art Institute of Chicago. At the entrance to the city's most esteemed art institution, Lee Godie began to sell her canvases - paintings which she compared favorably with Cezanne's. The term "French Impressionist" was abruptly updated. Godie's paintings concurrently captured the face of the city and the persona of its dwellers. The John Hancock Tower became an icon for Chicago. Birds, leaves, twigs, and insects symbolized the natural world, which Godie ingeniously inhabited in the heart of the city. Her distilled impressions and perception captivated countless artists, collectors, and casual observers - the subjects of many of her portraits. As intentionally as she became a French Impressionist, Lee Godie became a famous artist.
Thousands of paintings later, Lee Godie the famous artist has had gallery exhibitions and museum shows. She has become an icon in the Chicago art world. With her art successfully, with compromise to nothing- the weather, the art world, or any social conventions. Though some have pondered the orientation of her sanity, few would question her impact as an artist in the city. Perhaps as powerful as her paintings, Godie's tenacious originality has continually reminded artists, collectors, and casual observers that life and art can be invented, and not merely emulated.
Lee Godie has maintained an aura of privacy regarding the facts of her life. When asked about her birth date, she replied "I don't celebrate my birthday, I celebrate my status as an artist."
|
|
1968
1968 1976 1968-1990 1991 1993 1993 1994
|
The chronology of her life as an artist:
Lee Godie appears on the steps of The Art Institute of Chicago Godie's paintings included in Art in Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL The artist resides on and around the streets of Chicago, selling her paintings nearly every day Lee Godie: Drawings and Paintings, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL Lee Godie: French Impressionist, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL Artist- Lee Godie, A 20 Year Retrospective, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL Lee Godie passes away
|