Cecil Wray Goodchild  (1901 - 1983)

Cecil Wray Goodchild
I have a painting of his that belonged to my grandparents. They lived in Long Beach, Ca & purchased this in the early 1950's. It's a very large sofa size painting, I would guess 36" x 48". How can I find out what it's worth for insurance information? I can't afford to spend a lot of money on an appraisel, but just a way to know if I need to add a rider to my homeowners. I do know that when I get home, I'm going to smell the picture to see if I can smell the Old Spice. That's pretty funny!

pitt@charter.net
I met Cecil in the early to mid seventies. I worked at a little mom and pop grocery in Shell Beach, Ca. and Cecil was a customer. Cecil lived in a condo in Spyglass and would phone in his orders. I got the great pleasure of delivering them. Cecil would always have me write out the check and he would sign it. Then he would give me a five dollar tip, (I was making $2.25 an hour). His orders were unusual in that he would order some food items which I can't really recall and he would order two cartons of Benson and Hedges, one menthol and one regular. And he would order four or five bottles of Old Spice after shave. I can still smell the room when I would bring in the groceries, an amazing mix of Old Spice and smoke. Cecil would usually be painting and after my third or fourth visit I began to listen to him talk about his art. He shared that he had made many sketches of the central coast, I think in the forties or fifties and that now he was painting his watercolors from those many sketches. And when I finally got the nerve to ask him why all the after shave, he explained he used it in his painting. So I wonder if you smelled really closely one of his watercolors if you could smell the Old Spice and cigarette smoke?

Cecil Wray Goodchild
I have a large (24x36) oil painting by Goodchild that I love. I bought it for $12 at the Nipomo (San Luis Obispo Co., CA) flea market 25 years ago. It was so filthy you could not read the signature. It cleaned up nicely and I have since bought a few more items by Goodchild though not for as good a price.

Cecil Wray Goodchild
I posted the comments dated 9/18/2001 and have received some very interesting feedback. Please note my new e-mail.

cecil wray goodchild watercolor
I purchased a watercolor by this artist and have spent all day reseaching the painting. His artistry is a national treasure. I would like to know more about him.

Cecil Wray Goodchild
I was looking for information on this artist when I found this site. I have two works by Cecil Wray Goodchild. One is called "Daddy Mack's Story", I believe it is a wood block print which shows a bearded man telling a story in a western motif bar scene. It is approx. 10"x12". The other is called "Where Gentle Breezes Blow" (also a print) and shows a country scene with a horse drawn wagon moving through very tall eucalyptus trees. According to family lore, Mr. Goodchild was a neighbor of my grandparents in Glendale, California. The story was that he would show up at my Grandparents house "in his cups". My grandfather would talk to him and make sure he got home OK. The next day he would show up to apologize and give my grandparents one of his pictures. Apparently this happened more than once. As I mentioned, I am relying on family lore having never met the man. I would almost consider the pieces, which I have to be "folk art" but I like them very much. I would be delighted to learn more about this artist. Thanks.