Aaron J. Goodelman

Aaron J. Goodelman (1 April 1890 — 5 April 1978) was a Russian-born American sculptor, illustrator, etcher, lecturer, and teacher. He worked in wood and metal as well as stone, and his sculptures are in collections of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Hebrew Union College, and the Skirball Museum in Los Angeles, California, as well as the Ein Harod Museum, Tel Aviv Museum, and the Habima Theater, all in Israel.

Goodelman was born on April 1, 1890, in Otaci, Moldova, to Jewish poet Joseph Goodelman (1862–1947) and his wife Molko (Mollie) Fateles Goodelman (1865-1947).

Goodelman studied at an art school in Odesa, Ukraine (1902-1904). In 1905, aged 15, his family emigrated to the United States, settling in New York. In New York, he attended the Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design (1905-1912), working during the day to support himself. In 1914, he traveled to France and studied with French sculptor Jean-Antoine Injalbert at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France. He was forced to return to the United States at the outbreak of the First World War. In 1914-1916, he studied at Beaux-Arts Institute of Design in New York.

Goodelman became a US citizen in 1916.

Supporting himself as a machinist in the 1920s, he became a communist. He was a member of the Yiddish branch of the Communist Party, and art editor for YKUF, a Jewish cultural magazine. Using his art, he expressed his concerns about the social and economic conditions. 

Goodelman participated in exhibitions at the John Reed Club in the 1930s. His first exhibition was the Second Biennial exhibition of sculpture, drawings, and prints at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, New York, in 1936, and the most recent exhibition was the Annual exhibition of contemporary American art 1942-43 at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, NY in 1942.

For many years, Goodelman taught at the Jefferson School of Social Science—an adult education institution of the Communist Party USA located in New York City. He was a founding member of the Society of American Sculptors. He created sculptures in wood, metal, and stone, and illustrated many children's books in English and Yiddish.

After the Second World War, Goodelman created artworks related to the Holocaust. He taught at City College of New York in the 1960s.

Goodelman married Sarah Hyman on June 20, 1915, in New York.

Goodelman died on 5 April 1978, in New York City, New York, at the age of 88.