John William Godward, R.B.A. 1861-1922

Toronto, Cooling Gallery;
Toronto, Mr Elliott and thence by descent to his wife from whom bought c.1920 by the grandfather of the present owner

Possibly Vern G. Swanson, John William Godward - The Eclipse of Classicism, 1997, p. 250 catalogue number 5 (undated) as Idleness 

STRUCTURE This picture is unlined and in very good condition with bright clear colouring throughout. The paint surface is a little dirty and may benefit from a light clean and revarnish. There are areas of very fine craquelure; particularly in the dark area below the sofa, on the girls arms and to the area of marble above her body. These areas are only visible upon close inspection and could be reduced by a professional restorer. UNDER ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT The varnish appears uneven and opaque under ultraviolet light. There are flecked retouchings on the girl's arms and forehead, her cushion and the dark area below the sofa. These retouchings are not extensive. FRAME This picture is contained in a moulded plaster frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In a cool corner of a Pompeiian villa, a saffron-clad maiden takes respite from the summer sun. She is reclined on a low sofa and a peacock-feathered fan has slipped from her fingers and lies prone on the mosaic floor. Her head rests on a cushion and her eye-lids are heavy with languor as she dreams of an absent lover. The contrast of her warm flesh against the cool marble wall is beautifully rendered and her relaxed and curvaceous pose suggests a subtle eroticism.

The same model probably also appears in Euryplye and Matrona Superba and it is tempting to speculate that she may be the professional sitter described by the artist William Russell Flint who visited Godward's studio in Rome in 1912; 'He worked steadily at his Greek maidens in Liberty silks from a Roman model whose name in English meant 'Sweetest Castaway.' This heavy-jowled beauty was a star among the models (I found them a sorry lot after Londoners), but she aimed at being taken for something better. One day at Godward's for tea, Dolcissima, after taking a maddening time to complete her re-attirement, at last proceeded to make her dignified departure. My wife, with kind intention, called her notice to a long white thread sticking to her coat. It proved a mistake to do so because we were afterwards told that the thread had been placed there deliberately as the emblem of what Dolch thought a superior class -- the dress-makers. The Castaway [Dolcissima] was a careful lass and made the most of her opportunities. She accepted whatever gifts fell to her from the elderly English and American artists and amateurs who painted her. At the end of [a] foreigners' sojourn she sometimes gathered rich booty in the way of furnishings and household goods. She lived with her family -- father, mother, six brothers and sisters -- in one room with one bed , the immense 'letto matrimoniale' of Italy, in which, they say, grown-ups slept longways, juveniles sideways. She kept her possessions to herself, or rather, from her family, by suspending them from the rafters. she suspended them all, chairs, tables, a sewing-machine, rugs and beddings, carefully wrapped in pasted-up newspaper to keep moths out, and bundles of all sorts. The effect must have been peculiar. They were not to be used and spoiled by her family before they were carried, one future day, into an abode of her own.'

The pose of the model in the recently rediscovered The Day Dream is not purely classical in inspiration but perhaps owes something to a Roman Hellenistic marble depicting Ariadne at the Vatican Museum in Rome. The Day Dream was painted while Godward was in Rome in 1920 and he would certainly have known the Ariadne as he was greatly interested in Greek and Roman sculpture, as shown by the presence of known marbles and bronzes in many of his paintings. The Ariadne was well-known in the nineteenth century and was widely reproduced in alabaster models sold by street vendors and souvenir shops across the Italian capital. Godward lived in one of the studios of the Villa Strohl-Fern in the gardens of the Villa Borghese which was within walking distance of the Vatican museums where Godward would have spent much time studying the statues and classical fragments for his Graeco-Roman compositions.

The composition of a solitary reclining female figure was one that Godward painted in his pictures from the 1890s onwards, early examples being The Betrothed of 1892 (Guildhall Art Gallery, Corporation of London), Day Dreams of 1893 (Paul Mellon Centre for British Art, Yale) and Midday of 1900 (Manchester City Art Gallery). In 1920 Godward painted few pictures and only five are recorded by Swanson, although he acknowledged that more pictures might have been produced but their details now lost. By this date Godward's patronage had spread across the world and it is interesting that of the pictures painted in 1920 A Souvenir (sold Sotheby's, Belgravia, 6 December 1977, lot 52) and A Red, Red Rose (sold Sotheby's, Belgravia, 9 April 1980, lot 45) were sold to the Maharajah of Jamshadid in Nawanager in India whilst the present picture appears to have been sold in Canada soon after its completion.