Martha Joy Gottfried

Martha Joy Gottfried née Young (September 15, 1925 – January 10, 2014) was a prominent American-born Mexican landscape painter.

Biography Gottfried was born on September 15, 1925, in Glendale, Arizona, to Samuel Joy and Helen Young. She was the oldest of four children, her siblings were Mariam, Helen and Samuel. As a child she showed a natural inclination for painting. While attending Stephens College for women in Columbia, Missouri, she met her husband, Mario Héctor Gottfried, a pilot of the U.S. Army Air Corps. and the two were married in January 1945, at a Methodist church in Glendale, Arizona. The couple lived in the United States before moving to Mexico City in 1945. They were married for more than 55 years, most of which were spent at their home in Coyoacán. Their four children, Mario Héctor, Maria Elena, Carlos Federico and Martha Cecilia were raised there.

As a young mother in Mexico, Gottfried used drafts or watercolors as techniques.

She took lessons with Martha Sauer (1953–1954) and Gordon D. Jones (1955–1956). Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros (1983); and Museo de la Estampa ("Museum of Graphic Arts") (1994). She also held exhibitions at the México City and Cancún, Quintana Roo Airports. In 2004, she exhibited at Palacio de la Escuela de Medicina ("Medical School Palace") and in 2007 at the Club de Industriales("Industrial Club"), in Polanco. Besides her numerous exhibitions in and out of México, many of her paintings have been auctioned around the world. José López Portillo receiving Martha's Joy painting in 1976. The Duke of Kent receiving one of Martha's Joy paintings (1978). Some of her works were acquired by distinguished institutions and notable persons. Among others, during an honorary ceremony held in México City's Iztapalapa in 1976, she presented a painting of the Valley of Mexico to José López Portillo. In December 1978, the Duke of Kent received one of her paintings in a ceremony held by the British Chamber of Commerce in Mexico.

It was estimated that Gottfried created around 700 paintings during the period 1969–1979.

After a long fight with chronic kidney disease, she died of a heart stoppage on January 10, 2014, at the age of 88 in Mexico City.

Constant motifs in her paintings, such as Topilejo or the Valley of Mexico, are always shown in different seasons or perspectives. During some years she was especially interested in making "skyscapes ... landscapes viewed from an airplane". In this regard, Toby Joysmith states:

"They present no intellectual problems, nor concepts, nor searching. They are effortless to look at. Direct transcription, devoid of transformation, will always give the pure pleasure of recognition, as these paintings most certainly do."

Example of representative works 1980: San Miguel de Allende 1987: North of Cave Creek 1987: Topilejo 1989: Iztaccíhuatl summer 1990: Urban sprawl 1991: From Sierra Chincua 1992: Popo & Izta 1992: Ajusco 1994: The Cliff 1994: Road to Yautepec 1994: Copper Canyon 1994: Fly by Popo 1994: Aerial of Anáhuac 1994: Zitácuaro Valley 1995: Valley of South Mexico II 1995: The Superstitions, Arizona 1995: Donato Guerra 1995: Autumn Sonnet (Grand Topilejo) 1997: Popocatépetl & Iztaccíhuatl 1997: Read Home(Topilejo) 1997: Red Cliff 2000: Valle de Bravo lake 2004: Pinacate 2008: Nevado de Toluca 2009: Xitle