A veteran of World War II, Goodnough was one of the last of the original generation of the New York School; (although he has been referred to as a member of the "second generation" of Abstract Expressionists), even though he began exhibiting his work in galleries in New York City in the early 1950s.
Robert Goodnough was among the 24 artists from the total of 256 participants who were included in the famous 9th Street Art Exhibition, (1951) and in all the following New York Painting and Sculpture Annuals from 1953 to 1957.
A major work by Goodnough is included in The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany, NY.
[3] During the 1940s Goodnough graduated from Syracuse University and served in the U. S. Army during World War II.
He earned his master's degree from New York University in 1950 after which he began to exhibit his paintings publicly and also to write articles for ARTnews magazine.