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Michael Godard

American painter

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 18, 2026
Entity authorityQ116297637 ↗
Source-derived summary

Michael Godard (born March 10, 1963) is an American artist. He is known for his flamboyant pop art of anthropomorphic olives and strawberries. His long-haired, rockstar-inspired public image has led to his nickname Rockstar of the Art World.

Early life

Michael Godard was born on March 10, 1963, in Southern California. His parents were on welfare and food stamps and he had trouble making friends as a child. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, but dropped out due to his gambling addiction. He later attended the ArtCenter College of Design.

Career

Godard originally worked in Orange County, California, creating architectural design plans for a firm. He was later hired as a drafter after faking his résumé, lying that he was an engineer, and signing his name on another person's plan. Godard learned engineering while on the job and went to night school to educate himself on metallurgy, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Michael Godard” is american painter. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Michael, Godard and American, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1963—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1963-03-10. For this dossier, Michael, Godard and American is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american painter” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q116297637. VIAF identifies the subject as 43750144. The Library of Congress control number is n2007035813. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1963.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Michael Godard”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Michael Godard primary sources, Michael Godard archive and Michael research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Michael Godard”?
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  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Michael Godard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.