The Art and Life of Leonard Phelps Good (1907 - 2000)

The Jacobson House celebrates the holidays with a new exhibition of art by Leonard Phelps Good (1907 - 2000), a former student of Oscar Jacobson (1882 - 1966) at University of Oklahoma who later went on to teach in the university's art dept. for 20 years. The exhibition of paintings opens Dec. 5, 2008 at the Jacobson House, which is located in the former residence of Oscar Jacobson and his wife Jean D'Ucel, at 609 Chautauqua Avenue (corner of Boyd Street) in Norman. The opening reception coincides with Norman's citywide holiday Art Walk. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Biography of Leonard Phelps Good

Over his long career, Good's paintings and drawings have been seen in more than 100 exhibitions and are included in a number of private and private collections. Most recently in 2007, a selection of his work was exhibited in the Kawamura Memorial Museum and 3 Annex Gallery in Japan.

Good's early art training began under his cousin (by marriage), Willie Baze Hehn Lane20(1896 -1947), who taught a weekly art class in Chickasha and also in Anadarko where some of her students were renowned Native American artists, including Acee Blue Eagle and Woody Crumbo. He attended local schools in Chickasha and graduated from Chickasha High School in 1923 at the age of 16.

Leonard had a sensitive eye for the landscape and its salient features, according to Dr. Phelan. "We know that at an early age he enjoyed spending time drawing from nature and would have spent hours on the family farm drawing or doing watercolors," Phelan says. "When looking at his paintings, it seems that certain aspects of the Chickasha landscape (the colors and atmosphere) became an important and integral part of his aesthetic. For example, in almost all of his later paintings, much of his palette is composed of warm sunny tones that reflect the Oklahoma space and its hospitable seasons. His light is warm, bright and seems to fall directly on the subjects of his paintings whether they are people, places, flowers or events."

Good studied art the University of Oklahoma under the direction of Oscar Jacobson, then head of the Department of Art. He graduated in1927, and he was awarded the prestigious Leitzeiser Medal as the outstanding art student along with his BFA degree and teaching certification.

Following graduation Good first taught in Burkburnett, TX. and later at Roosevelt Junior High School in Oklahoma City. In January of 1930, Oscar Jacobson invited Good back to the Art Department as an instructor in drawing and painting at the age of 22. Good married Nancye Dooley Fenn, a former University of Oklahoma classmate who was a teacher in the Oklahoma City and Norman schools, and taught at the university for the next 20 years. They had one son, Leonard Jacob Good in 1938. (Nancye died in 1968.)

From 1950-1952, Good was a professor of art at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, after which, he was invited to become the Director of the School of Art (and professor) at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He remained in the position of Director until 1968 when he became professor, and later Emeritus Professor of Art at Drake until he retired in 1977. On January 17, 1993, Oklahoma Governor David Walters proclaimed the day as Leonard Good Day and presented the artist with a certificate. Good passed away in 2000 at the age of 93.