Louis Goodman (1905-1973) was an assemblage artist and inventor based in New York, N.Y. and Los Angeles, California. Goodman was born in 1905 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. He and his family immigrated to the U.S. in 1922 and settled in California. Based on a short biographical statement written by Goodman that can be found in the collection, he had no formal art or technical training. He created many inventions through his own ingenuity and a few of his inventions were patented. He also worked with found objects to create his artwork assemblages. He lived in New York for a time but eventually returned to California, where he passed away in 1973.