John William Godward R.B.A.

Thomas McLean, London (in 1905)
Private Collection (acquired from the above)
Private American Collection (and sold: Sotheby's, New York, November 3, 1999, lot 58, illustrated)
M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans (acquired from the above sale)
Acquired from the above by the present owner in April 2000

In the present picture, John William Godward borrows from the vocabulary of Greek and Roman art.  We admire the main figure in classical profile, her porcelain skin tones looking as polished as ancient marble.  Her corded hair and diaphanous red drapery evoke a classical past, while her enigmatic expression, as she gazes into an opened jewel box, reminds the viewer of the myth of Pandora’s Box.  Before her stands a table whose design derives from Roman prototypes.  On the table rests a still life of fruit in an archaeologically accurate Greek kylix.  As summarized by Vern Swanson, “Godward became the climatic figure of English classical-subject painting …. He was the best of the last great European painters to straight-forwardly embrace classical Greece and Rome in their art. Herein lies his significance to art history…. we see the final summation of half a millennium of Classical antique influence on Western painting.”

Two small oil studies exist for the present picture, each painted in 1905.  They both closely resemble the final work, however one omits the table and still life to the viewer’s left.  According to Swanson, “this is the sole example of two oil studies for a single oil in Godward’s oeuvre.  Perhaps the buyer was given the opportunity to view the study and make comments, thus leading to the second oil sketch.” 

This painting’s near total absence from public exhibitions and from literature strongly suggests a personal commission sent directly from artist to patron.  Thomas McLean, Godward’s dealer, owned the larger of the two studies which included the table, leading Swanson to conclude that Godward received this commission through McLean.