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{{Short description|English painter (1861–1922)}}{{Use British English|date=October 2019}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

factoids

Wimbledon, England,United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}19221308df=y}} Fulham, County of London>London, United Kingdom| resting_place = Brompton Cemetery, West London| resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = English| residence = | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = Painting, drawing| notable_works = | style = | movement = Neo-Classicism, Academism| spouse = | partner = | awards = | elected = | patrons = Lawrence Alma-Tadema| memorials = }}John William Godward (9 August 1861 Р13 December 1922) was an English painter from the end of the Neo-Classicist era. He was a prot̩g̩ of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, but his style of painting fell out of favour with the rise of modern art.

Early life

Godward was born in 1861 and lived in Wilton Grove, Wimbledon. He was born to Sarah Eboral and John Godward (an investment clerk at the Law Life Assurance Society, London).BOOK, Swanson, Vern, John William Godward: The Eclipse of Classicism, 1997, Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 978-1-85149-270-1, {{rp|pages=17–19}} He was the eldest of five children. He was named after his father John and grandfather William. He was christened at St Mary's Church, Battersea on 17 October 1861. The overbearing attitude of his parents made him reclusive and shy later in adulthood.{{rp|page=22}}

Career

He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1887.WEB, Barrow, Rosemary, Godward, John William (1861–1922), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online, 2011,weblink Oxford University Press, 23 August 2015, cs2, {{ODNBsub}} When he moved to Italy with one of his models in 1912, his family broke off all contact with him and even cut his image from family pictures.{{rp|page=122}} Godward returned to England in 1921, died in 1922, and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, West London.One of his best-known paintings is Dolce far Niente (1904), which was purchased for the collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1995. As in the case of several other paintings, Godward painted more than one version; in this case, an earlier (and less well-known) 1897 version with a further 1906 version.WEB, John William Godward, R.B.A., Sothebys,weblink 23 August 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150924132743weblink">weblink 24 September 2015, live, He committed suicide at the age of 61 and is said to have written in his suicide note that "the world is not big enough for [both] myself and a Picasso".WEB, John William Godward,weblink Heritage Auctions, 23 August 2015, {{Unreliable source?|date=March 2022}}His estranged family, who had disapproved of his becoming an artist, were ashamed of his suicide and burned his papers. Only one photograph of Godward is known to survive.BOOK, Swanson, Vern G, JW Godward 1861-1922: The Eclipse of Classicism, 20 November 2018, Acc Art Books, 978-1851499038, 344, 1,

Works

Godward was a Victorian Neo-Classicist, and therefore, in theory, a follower of Frederic Leighton. However, he is more closely allied stylistically to Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, with whom he shared a penchant for the rendering of Classical architecture – in particular, static landscape features constructed from marble.The vast majority of Godward's extant images feature women in Classical dress posed against landscape features, although there are some semi-nude and fully nude figures included in his oeuvre, a notable example being In The Tepidarium (1913), a title shared with a controversial Alma-Tadema painting of the same subject that resides in the Lady Lever Art Gallery.{{which|date=December 2018}} The titles reflect Godward's source of inspiration: Classical civilization, most notably that of Ancient Rome (again, a subject binding Godward closely to Alma-Tadema artistically).Given that Classical scholarship was more widespread among the potential audience for his paintings during his lifetime than in the present day, meticulous research of detail was important in order to attain a standing as an artist in this genre. Alma-Tadema was an archaeologist as well as a painter, who attended historical sites and collected artifacts he later used in his paintings: Godward, too, studied such details as architecture and dress, in order to ensure that his works bore the stamp of authenticity.In addition, Godward painstakingly and meticulously rendered other important features in his paintings, animal skins (the paintings Noon Day Rest (1910) and A Cool Retreat (1910) contains examples of such rendition) and wildflowers (Nerissa (1906) and Summer Flowers (1903) are again examples of this).The appearance of beautiful women in studied posesCalinski, Tobias. Catull in Bild und Ton (2021). Darmstadt: WBG. 158-183 in so many of Godward's canvases causes many newcomers to his works to categorize him mistakenly as being Pre-Raphaelite, particularly as his palette is often a vibrantly colourful one. The choice of subject matter (ancient civilization versus, for example, Arthurian legend) is more properly that of the Victorian Neo-classicist. In common with numerous painters contemporary with him, Godward was a 'High Victorian Dreamer', producing images of an idealized and romanticized world that, in the case of both Godward and Alma-Tadema, came to be criticized as a world-view of 'Victorians in togas'.{{Citation needed|date=December 2020}}Godward "quickly established a reputation for his paintings of young women in a classical setting and his ability to convey with sensitivity and technical mastery the feel of contrasting textures, flesh, marble, fur and fabrics."{{rp|page=91}} Godward's penchant for creating works of art set in the classical period probably came from the time period in which he was born. "The last full-scale classical revival in western painting bloomed in England in the 1860s and flowered there for the next three decades."JOURNAL, Gaines, Charles, Art: Those Victorian Ladies, Architectural Digest, 1985, 42, 125,

Gallery

File:John William Godward - Far Away Thoughts.jpg|Far Away Thoughts, 1892File:Idle Moments by Godward.jpg|Idle Moments, 1895File:John William Godward - The Signal.jpg|The Signal, 1899File:Godward Idleness 1900.jpg|Idleness, 1900File:Godward - The Jewel Casket.jpg|The Jewel Casket, 1900File:Youth and Time 1901.jpg|Youth and Time, 1901File:Godward With Violets Wreathed and Robe of Saffron Hue 1902.jpg|With Violets Wreathed and Robe of Saffron Hue, 1902File:When the heart is young, by John William Godward.jpg|When the heart is young, 1902File:Godward Summer Flowers 1903.jpg|Summer Flowers, 1903File:Godward The Old Old Story 1903.jpg|The Old Old Story, 1903File:John William Godward - Reverie (In the Days of Sappho) - c 1904 -The Getty LA.jpg|In the Days of Sappho, 1904File:John William Godward - Dolce Far Niente (1904).jpg|Dolce far Niente, 1904File:John William Godward - Sweet Dreams - c 1901.jpg|Sweet Dreams, 1904File:Godward Flabellifera.jpg|Flabellifera, 1905File:The quiet pet, by John William Godward.jpg|The quiet pet, 1906File:Violets, sweet violets , by John William Godward.jpg|Violets, sweet violets, 1908File:Godward-A Classical Beauty.jpg|A Classical BeautyFile:Un bain pompeien.jpg|A Pompeian Bath, 1890File:Godward A Priestess2 1893.jpg|A Priestess 2 1893File:A Priestess by Godward.jpg|A Priestess, 1894File:Godward-He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not-1896.jpg|He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, 1896File:Godward - Venus Binding Her Hair.jpg|Venus Binding Her Hair, 1897File:Godward - Idle Thoughts.jpg|Idle Thoughts, 1898File:Godward-The Mirror-1899.jpg|The Mirror, 1899File:Godward-Nerissa-1906.jpg|Nerissa (1906)File:Godward-The Tambourine Girl-1906.jpg|The Tambourine Girl, 1906File:Godward-Drusilla-1906.jpg|Drusilla, 1906File:John William Godward - Athenais - 1908.jpg|Athenais, 1908File:Godward-An Offering to Venus-1912.jpg|An Offering to Venus, 1912File:Godward-In the Tepidarium-1913.jpg|In the Tepidarium, 1913File:A fair reflection, by John William Godward.jpg|A fair reflection, 1915File:Godward-Lesbia with her Sparrow-1916.jpg|Lesbia with the Sparrow, 1916File:At The Window by John William Godward.jpg|At the Window, 1920

List of works by the artist

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c. 1880–1881

• Portrait of Mary Perkington Godward

c. 1882–1883

• Portrait of Mary Frederica Godward

c.1883

• Country House in the 18th Century

c.1887

• Expectation
• Poppaea
• Portrait of Harriet (Hetty) Pettigrew in Classical Dress
• Portrait of Lillian (Lilly) Pettigrew in Classical Dress
• A Yellow Turban

c. 1887-1888

• Japonica
• A Roman Head

1888

• A Beauty in Profile
• An Eastern Beauty
• The Engagement Ring
• Flo
• Ianthe
• Lily
• Threissa
• The Tiff
• Waiting for the Dance

1889

• Callirhoe
• Grecian Reverie
• A Greek Girl
• Head of a Roman Woman{{rp|pages=172–176}}
• Ianthe
• His Birthday Gift
• Waiting For An Answer

1890

• A Pompeian Bath
• Athenais
• Flowers Of Venus

1891

• A Pompeian Lady
• Innocent Amusement
• The Sweet Siesta of a Summer Day

1892

• At The Garden Shrine, Pompeii
• Classical Beauty
• Far Away Thoughts (landscape format)
• Far Away Thoughts (portrait format)
• Leaning On The Balcony
• The Betrothed
• The Playground
• With Violets Wreathed And Robe Of Saffron Hue

1893

• A Priestess (nude)
• Reflections
• Yes Or No
• At the FountainWEB,weblink Godward, john william, r.b.a. At &124;&124;&124; figures &124;&124;&124; sotheby's l18133lot9zj5sen, 11 December 2018, 15 December 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20181215222009weblink">weblink dead,

1894

• A Priestess

1895

• Mischief and Repose
• The Muse Erato At Her Lyre
• Tigerskin (date uncertain)

1896

• Campaspe (nude)
• He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
• Female Portrait

1897

• Dolce Far Niente (first version)
• Venus Binding Her Hair, by 1897 (nude)

1898

• At The Gate Of The Temple
• Idle thoughts
• On The Balcony (first version)
• The Ring

1899

• The Bouquet
• The Delphic Oracle
• The Mirror
• The Signal

1900

• Idleness
• The Jewel Casket
• The Toilet

1901

• At The Garden Door
• Chloris
• Girl In Yellow Drapery
• Idle Hours
• Sweet Dreams
• The Favourite
• The Seamstress
• Venus At The Bath (nude)
• Youth And Time

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1902

• An Italian Girl's Head
• Ionian Dancing Girl
• When the Heart is Young

1903

• Amaryllis
• Summer Flowers
• The Old, Old Story
• The Rendezvous

1904

• The Melody (or A Melody)
• Dolce Far Niente (second version)
• In The Days Of Sappho

1905

• A Greek Beauty
• A Roman Matron
• Flabellifera
• Mischief

1906

• Dolce Far Niente (third version)
• Drusilla
• Nerissa
• The Tambourine Girl (first version - girl facing the viewer)
• The Tambourine Girl (second version - girl reclining against wall)

1907

• The Love Letter

1908

• A Classical Lady
• A Grecian Girl
• Ismenia

1909

• A Classical Beauty
• A Grecian Lovely (date uncertain)
• At The Thermae (semi nude)
• Tympanistria

1910

• A Cool Retreat
• Noon Day Rest
• Reverie (first version)
• Sappho

1911

• In Realms Of Fancy
• On The Balcony (second version)

1912

• A Tryst
• Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder
• An Offering To Venus
• By The Wayside
• Reverie (second version)
• Sabinella
• The Peacock Fan

1913

• Golden Hours
• In The Tepidarium (nude)
• La Pensierosa
• Le Billet Doux
• The Belvedere

1914

• The Necklace
• The New Perfume
• Tranquility

1915

• In The Prime Of The Summer Time

1916

• Ancient Pastimes
• By The Blue Ionian Sea
• Lesbia With Her Sparrow

1917

• A Lily Pond
• The Fruit Vendor
• Under The Blossom That Hangs On The Bough

1918

• A Fond farewell
• Sweet Sounds

1920

• A Red, Red Rose

1921

• Megilla

1922

• Contemplation
• Nu Sur La Plage (an exception to all other works, this is a 'modern' nude)

Date unknown

• Grape Vines
• Ophelia
• Time To Play

This list is not a complete list but serves to illustrate the extent of Godward's output.{{col-end}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{commons category|John William Godward}}

• Godward's Women and Kittens
• Biography of J W Godward by Vern Grosvenor Swanson
• {{ARC artist|82}}
• Godward at the Getty Museum
• Works of JW Godward atweblink

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