DONALD GODDARD

Donald Letcher Goddard died at his home at Westbeth Artists Housing on October 1, 2021. He was born in Cortland, NY, in 1934 to Adèle Fournier Letcher, a diplomat's daughter, and Donald Gay Goddard, a pioneering newscaster. Handsome and soft-spoken, he had a wry wit, a calming presence, and a unique passion for art and the natural world, embodied in his career as writer and editor. His enthusiasms were contagious, whether for baseball, a young artist's work, or a beautiful sky. Mr. Goddard fell in love with Renaissance art at Princeton University (BA 1956) and did postgraduate work at Columbia University and the Institute of Fine Arts. In 1969, he cofounded the Editorial Photocolor Archives, which supplied images to publishers, and from 1974 to 1978, he was managing editor of ARTnews. Supporter of leftist causes, he traveled to England in the 1960s to work for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, reminiscing fondly in later years of time spent with Bertrand Russell. After retiring in 1996, he reviewed art shows for newyorkartworld.com.

As an art writer-a term he preferred to art historian or art critic, though he was all three-he had a curatorial eye, impeccable taste, wide-ranging knowledge, and a penetrating intellect. His art books include ""Tschacbasov: A Collection of His Work"" (1964), ""Harry Jackson"" (with Larry Pointer, 1981), and the comprehensive history ""American Painting"" (1990). Ever mindful of the power of the image, he grounded his texts in the act of looking closely at an artwork and teaching others to look with the same open mind and focused attention. In his cherished second career as senior editor at the Wildlife Conservation Society (1982–1996), he authored ""Saving Wildlife: A Century of Conservation"" (1995), for which he selected and contextualized texts by 22 conservationists associated with the society.

Mr. Goddard notably collaborated with American feminist artist Hannah Wilke throughout their 18-year relationship (they married in 1992). At her direction, he photographed many of her well-known images and performance-based works, including ""So Help Me Hannah"" (1978) and ""Support, Foundation, Comfort"" (1984). He worked painstakingly to realize her posthumous ""IntraVenus Tapes"" (2007), a 16-monitor chronicle of the 30 months before she died of lymphoma in 1993. He developed the confrontational and intimate work, a major portion of which he filmed himself, with great devotion and in conformance with Wilke's concept and detailed instructions.

Mr. Goddard is survived by his wife and companion of 28 years, Helen Goddard; his daughters, Kathlyn Goddard and Cornelia Goddard Wilson (Brian), from his first marriage to Connie Goddard; stepsons, Nathaniel Oppenheimer (Karen Frome) and Lemuel Oppenheimer (Jennifer); grandchildren, Linus, Francesca, Luke, Lena, Zola, Gwendolyn, and Gabriela; and sisters Marilu Nowlin, Susan Walter, and Meg Moss. Contributions in his honor can be made to the Wildlife Conservation Society