Percival Goodman: Wayward 1925 Paris Prize Winner Made Good

A letter from Goodman written aboard the S.S. De Grasse on his way to Paris from New York in 1925.

“The great problem with Percy of course is that he does things that students are not supposed to do… therefore is constantly living from hand to mouth…”

An early letter from Goodman’s time in Paris. His money troubles started early, but he was working hard, and even won a medal.

“I do not want to do buildings for human beings! I want to do monuments!!”

Paris brings out the artist in Percival Goodman. Here, he declares his love for monument design and insists that he needs to study sculpture.

“I shall write as soon as I have won a medal … so a long silence may be expected.”

An update from Goodman in Paris, he has started working at an atelier and is looking for an apartment.

“What with all the pretty ladies having gone down to the Riviera, Paris is a sad, lonely, dreary, and desolate place.”

Goodman is not enjoying Paris in the winter, it is cold and all the ladies have gone to the Riviera.

It is spring in Paris and Percival Goodman is keeping busy; his aunt and uncle are visiting, he is painting his apartment green, and has recently won a medal.

Goodman is too preoccupied with painting and sculpture to spend much time on his architectural problems.

“the check arrived just in time to prevent my ignominious death by starvation.”

Once again, Goodman is asking for more money from the Committee.

Goodman spent the summer in Italy “dreaming, thinking, and sketching.” Over three months he visited Rome, Oriento, Ferrara, Perugia, Assisi, and Florence.

“I am sure that you will be horrified and disgusted with me for not having done any projects for the last three months.”

Goodman has not been working and presents a long list of excuses: he came down with a case of whooping cough, he was not satisfied with the party, the problem was unamusing, he was too busy with drawing and sculpture.

A letter from Raymond Hood in response to Goodman’s letter of July 26th, 1926 in which he gives many reasons as to why he has not been working. Hood concludes that although Goodman is a bit of a “nut”, he has kept up his side of the arrangement.

“Working at Fontainebleau was too great a temptation for me, what with models to paint and the like.”

Percival Goodman, presumably after a scolding from the Committee, vows for renewed focus and declares that “architecture is my true love.”

Goodman returns to Paris after a summer vacation. He proclaims a renewed love for architecture and vows to do every problem that term.

“I have been (and still am) going through the painful stage of 'finding myself'."

In reply to a stern letter from the Paris Prize Committee, Goodman explains that he has not completed as many projects as expected because he has been busy with the worth pursuit of “finding myself.”

“I have been amused by the Italians and amazed by Italy…under that blue dome of its sky the beauty seems not to alter and the charm remains ineluctable.”

Goodman returns to Italy for a second summer. He gives passionate accounts of his time in Venice, Bologna, Rome, and Ravenna.

A letter the to the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design treasurer requesting that he terminate payments to Percival Goodman. It appears that Goodman returned to the U.S. before the end of the fellowship period, and in doing so broke the terms of the agreement.

Percival Goodman was the 1925 Paris Prize winner and later became a trustee of the institute. He had a robust architecture practice as well as a teaching position at Columbia University for many years. He authored a book on urban theory, Communitas.

Goodman credits his time in Paris as one of the great formative experiences of his life. The correspondences presented here tell how enamored he was with the city (although less so with his studies at the Ecole). Despite a contentious relationship with the Prize Committee, Goodman continued to be an active member of the organization for many years after his return from Paris.