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  • John William Godward
    Aug 9, 1861 - Dec 13, 1922
  • l Dolce far Niente - Godward excelled in oil and watercolour. His work remained consistent throughout a remarkable career spanning almost forty years, over which time he created a vital stylistic niche for his oeuvre. Godward is best known for his highly finished paintings of pretty girls attired in classical robes, indeed, he became known as the master ‘classical tunic gown’ painter.
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l Dolce far Niente
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  • l Dolce far Niente

  • John William Godward
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  • 1893
    Oil on canvas

    'John William Godward was among the brightest stars of the late Graeco-Roman painters, during classicism's twilight and final extinguishing. Some believe he equalled Tadema in the depiction of marble...'
    Vern Swanson, John William Godward - The Eclipse of Classicism, 1997, dustjacket

    Il Dolce far Niente is the title given to at least eight of Godward’s paintings but is applicable to almost his entire oeuvre. Meaning ‘sweet idleness’ it captures the spirit of Godward’s idealist art in which languid beautiful women idle away their time in the sunlit gardens of Roman palaces, cool marble interiors and on terraces overlooking azure oceans. His world was one of carefree hedonism, of romantic liaisons beneath boughs of oleander and dreamy introspection.

    Godward was particularly skilled at rendering textures and in Il Dolce far Niente he contrasted smooth cold marble with animal-skins, blushed living flesh with diaphanous robes. The model is of an unusually slender and pale type for Godward who preferred sitters with a more Mediterranean appearance. Whilst most of the other pictures from the early 1890s depict members of the Pettigrew family of artist’s models, the facial features of this young model are less angular. She is probably the same golden-haired girl who posed for Daydreams in 1893 (Paul Mellon Centre for British Art). In the early 1890s Godward was living at St Leonard’s Studio in Smith Street, Chelsea and would have had the pick of the artist models who frequented the many artist’s studios in that bohemian part of London. She certainly has the self-assured confidence of an experienced model, looking directly out of the picture with an expression of invitation. The languor of her pose contrasts with the angularity of the architecture.

    In Il Dolce far Niente Godward used the compositional device of showing a glimpse of terrace through a portal and sunlit sea beyond, which he had used in earlier pictures such as Ianthe painted in 1888 and A Pompeian Lady of 1891. This seems to have been suggested by Godward’s study of the work of Alma-Tadema and is present in pictures such as Oleander of 1882 (private collection). The tiger-skin is also an element found in Alma-Tadema’s work as a symbol of luxury and exoticism. Tadema had various animal pelts in his studio to use as props for his paintings and it is likely that Godward also had examples in his studio as they appear frequently. Sculptural details in the picture reflect Godward’s interest in the archaeology of Greece and Rome and particularly the excavations of Pompeii which revealed brightly-coloured wall paintings like that of the female dancer seen in the panel to the left of the chair in the present picture. The figure of a warrior carved in a low-relief marble panel is similar to the Parthenon frieze and the bronze herm portrait also appears to have been based on an existing example, as it is in The Bouquet of 1898 and The Sweet Siesta of a Summer Day of 1891.

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Other paintings by John William Godward:

Jeune fille a l'antique
Jeune fille a l'antique
Julia
Julia
La Pensierosa (The Thinker)
La Pensierosa (The Thinker)
Lassitude
Lassitude
John William GodwardJohn William Godward was a painter of classical genre scenes. His works embody the aesthetics of the circle of artists around Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912), often described as the ‘Greco-West Kensington School’, who saw the world of Ancient Greece as a Golden Age of poetic beauties and graceful languor. He excelled in oil and watercolour. His work remained consistent throughout a remarkable career spanning almost forty years, over which time he created a vital stylistic niche for his oeuvre.

Godward is best known for his highly finished paintings of pretty girls attired in classical robes, indeed, he became known as the master ‘classical tunic gown’ painter. The diaphanous fabrics of their Grecian tunics highlight their pearly flesh surrounded by marble statuary and balustrades amidst abundant flowers. He was admired for his archaeologically exact rendering of the surfaces of marble and the flowing movement of classical costume. These girls reminded one critic of ‘true English roses’ as much as Hellenic goddesses; it is this gentle beauty which is Godward’s greatest charm. He first worked in his father’s prosperous insurance firm before training with William Hoff Wonter (1814-1881) to become an architect. He became a friend of Wontner’s son, William Clarke (1857-1930) who was also a painter. Vern Swanson has persuasively argued that Godward probably attended the St John’s Wood Art School at Elm Tree Road and the Clapham School of Art in the early 1880’s.

Godward exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy between 1887 and 1905 and at the Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street, of which he became a member in 1889. Godward’s paintings were also often accepted to the Birmingham Royal Society of Artists’ Autumn Exhibitions. The art dealer Thomas McLean was an important champion of his work which was often included in his annual exhibitions. The prints made of Godward’s work by McLean and later by Eugène Cremetti introduced a wider audience to the artist’s work and guaranteed his popularity. He also exhibited internationally, making his début at the Paris Salon of 1899. In 1913 he was awarded the gold medal at the International Exhibition in Rome. The first years of the twentieth century saw a revival of interest in classicism, as prosperity rose throughout the British Empire. In fact, ‘the early Victorians believed that in ancient Rome they had found a parallel universe – a flawless mirror of their own immaculate world,” (cited in Iain Gale, ‘The Empire Looks Back’, Country Life, 30th May 1996, p.68.) This increased Godward’s popularity and success, with 1910 emerging as one of the best years for him as an artist.

Godward lived with his parents in Wimbledon until he achieved financial and critical success in 1889. He took a house at 34 St Leonard’s Terrace on the corner of Smith Street in Chelsea. He gave up his lease at Bolton Studios and rented a studio just around the corner. He filled his studio with marbles, ancient statues (mostly reproductions) and other antique objects, which he purchased from local shops and East End dealers, attempting to recreate a Graeco-Roman inspirational environment for his work. After a first trip to southern Italy in 1911, Godward moved to Rome where he remained until 1921. He took up residence in the Villa Stohl-Fern on the Monti Parioli near the Villa Borghese. The abundance of floral varieties and statuary in the villa’s elegant gardens appear in his work of this period. However, declining health and depression, meant Godward produced very few paintings in later life. Having returned to London in 1921, he committed suicide and was buried in Old Brompton Cemetery, Fulham.

The work of John William Godward is represented in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery, Bournemouth and the Manchester City Art Gallery.