Doyla Goutman came to the U.S. from Russia by way of Latvia and Holland, arriving with his parents in 1931. Goutman went to art school in Detroit, and later enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago where he won a $2,500 Traveling Fellowship. He had wanted to go to China and India, but was denied visas because he still had not yet qualified for U.S. citizenship. So, he used the money, a large sum in the 1940s, to go to California, where an uncle resided. Once there, he found work in Paramount Studios, eventually becoming an art director of that studio. Goutman created elaborate and memorable murals for Paramount's film biography of Paul Gauguin, "The Moon and Sixpence."

Goutman sometimes painted geometric abstractions, but is known predominately for his expressionist works. Unlike the dark images of the German Expressionists, whose work was popular when Goutman was a child, Goutman's expressionist paintings were colorful and dynamic.

Goutman completed his master's work at the University of Pennsylvania and joined the faculty at the Moore College of Art. He became head of the painting department and eventually professor emeritus.