N08783

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Lot 66
  • 66

John William Godward, R.B.A.

Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 USD
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Description

  • John William Godward, R.B.A.
  • A Congenial Task
  • signed J W GODWARD. and dated 1915. (lower left);  inscribed on the reverse: ''A CONGENIAL TASK''/ J W GODWARD/ ROME 1915
  • oil on canvas
  • 30 by 30 in. (painted within a circle)
  • 77 by 77cm

Provenance

Phillips Son and Neale, London (in November 1950)
Cooling Gallery, Toronto (in January 1951)
Private Collection
M. S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2004

Literature

Vern G. Swanson, John William Godward; The Eclipse of Classicism, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1997, p, 238, no. 1915-3, illustrated p. 239.

Condition

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This painting is in perfect condition. The canvas is unlined and well stretched. The paint layer is clean and varnished. There appear to be no retouches or weaknesses to the paint layer. The painting should be hung as is.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Catalogue Note

Among Godward's most successful compositions are those in which lovely maidens are involved with every-day tasks, such as playing with pet kittens, stepping from the bath, or simply absorbed in dreamy reverie. A Congenial Task is particularly unusual in the artist's oeuvre, as it depicts a woman braiding her hair, a rare subject for the artist, save for two large works of nude women gathering their locks with bands of fabric, Venus Binding Her Hair and The Toilette (both held by private collections). The present work is part of a tradition from antiquity of depicting women arranging their tresses. Godward would have known the British Museum's various marbles, bronzes, and terracotta figures of Venus or Aphrodite fixing their hair after emerging from the sea.  He would have also been familiar with similar scuptures held by the Vatican and the Capitoline Museums in Rome, Godward's home city for many years.  Classical artifacts had also inspired many of Godward's contemporaries like Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema who used the Capitoline's Esquiline Venus to inform the nude figure who binds her hair for the study of the female body in A Sculptor's Model (1877) while Edward Poynter used the same inspiration for his Diadumene (1884) whose model ties up her hair after removing her robes in preparation for the bath.  Rather than depicting his model undressed, Godward makes the challenging choice to capture each fold of rich fabric of her robes, tied and wrapped in daring color combinations of saturated maroon, deep purple, and gem-like blue.  While the model's activity is inspired by classical examples, her pose is decidedly more realistic, as she sits with her legs curled up, eyes downcast toward her fingers, which grasp the strands of her thick hair as she makes a braid.  Rather than using multiple props or artifacts to support the scene, Godward employs his brilliant mastery of marble to create a setting of illusionistic detail. The variegated veins and shifting colors of the stone contrast the soft fur of the spotted leopard skin throw. 

Though related to Antique sculpture as well as the Renaissance examples of Veronese and Titian who painted women at their toilet, Godward's classical ideal of beauty was ultimately based upon Alma-Tadema, Poynter, and Frederic, Lord Leighton -- evoking a world of idle contemplation and idyllic beauty, in which nothing is amiss and life is devoted to the daily pursuit of pleasure.