Herman Goustin |
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| In 2001, the estate of New York artist Herman Goustin (b. 1923, Jersey City, NJ – d. 1997, New York City) generously donated to Western Carolina University more than 50 black-and-white archival photographs from the artist's extensive body of work, to be placed in the new Fine Art Museum collection. The photographs are mostly undated but were printed between 1960 and 1995. read more about the Goustin collection |
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| Self Portrait with Giraffe and Elephant 8.25 x 8.25 inches |
Arms Linked 9.5 x 9.5 inches |
Female Mannequins with Arched Window 9.75 x 9.75 inches |
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| Shutters and Shadows 9.25 x 9.25 inches |
Dark Chair/Stone Building 10.25 x 10.25 inches |
Many Bicycles with Two Figures 10.25 x 10.25 inches |
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Self Portrait on Bed 13.5 x 9.125 inches |
Charles I 9.25 x 13.5 inches |
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While a selection of Goustin photographs will be exhibited on a rotating basis, the collection is available for study and research by scholars, undergraduate and graduate students and the general public by appointment with the art museum director. “This is a tremendous addition to the Fine Art Museum collection," said Founding Director Martin DeWitt. "We are especially grateful to the Herman Goustin Estate and to Professor Robert Godfrey who worked closely with estate executor David Cohn to select the photographs for the collection." Covering a 30-year period while Goustin was active in New York, Paris, and Rome, the photographs are prime examples of the photographer's expressed interest in observation, capturing the moment, and celebrating the details, oftentimes, as “exotic beauty.” New York artist and friend of Herman Goustin, Emily Nelligan commented in her catalogue Post Script , ¹ “… I keep recalling bits that Herman said - he said, 'The camera sees more than the eye can see.' This was in the early 1950s before he had come to photography himself – he was looking at one of my photographs, marveling at the gradations of grey from white to blacks and he said, 'You didn't see all that. The camera sees more than the eye can see.'" In Robert Godfrey's catalogue essay, he says, “What is it that is so special about the Goustin photographs? It is the deliberate moment, where the grey tones are balanced with the attendant black and white, where the action is stilled and locked in an ironic place, and where light pulls out all the necessary details in order to homogenize the photograph's surface, all of which brings Herman's Goustin's eye into coherence and compliance with his desires. These are the photographs that express those qualities and show that the artist is in charge.” ² The black and white photographs of Herman Goustin are mostly undated but were printed between 1960 and 1995. ³ The Permanent collection of the Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University also holds a Herman Goustin Archive of the photographer's notebooks and letters as well as a portfolio of 19 photographic prints by Herman Goustin titled Street Art by Richard Hamilton 1981-1986. A similar suite is held by the New York Public Library. 4 Notes Note 1: (p.16, Deliberate Moment, The Photographs of Herman Goustin; by Robert Godfrey, Western Carolina University, 2002) |
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This page is still in development. For more information about the Herman Goustin Collection or to make an appointment to review the Goustin collection contact Martin DeWitt, founding director, ar 828-227-3591 or mdewitt@wcu.edu . A national touring exhibition of Deliberate Moment, The Photographs of Herman Goustin is in development. |
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