John William Godward, R.B.A.

Thomas McLean, London 
Sir Alfred Bird, Solihull, United Kingdom
The Cooling Galleries, London and Toronto
Maurice and Louella Brown, Calgary
Private Collection (by descent from the above)

Thomas McLean Gallery, London, 1904

Possibly, a letter from Godward to his art dealer, Thomas McLean, 1904

The following condition report was kindly provided by Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.: This work is unlined and on its original stretcher. The paint layer is clean and varnished. There is a small area which has received restoration in the red curtain in the lower right. There is a slightly raised bump here, and the retouching could be improved. The condition is otherwise wonderful. The original frame should be re-gilded, as it is broadly painted at present.
"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."

Though greatly influenced by his mentor, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, John William Godward distinguishes himself through his striking images of a single female model. In his study of Victorian painters of classical subjects, Christopher Wood described Godward as: "the best, and most serious of Alma-Tadema's followers.... All his life he devoted himself only to classical subjects, invariably involving girls in classical robes on marble terraces, but painted with a degree of technical mastery that almost rivals that of Alma-Tadema. Godward was also an admirer of Lord Leighton, and his figures do sometimes achieve a monumentality lacking in the work of most of Alma-Tadema's followers" (Christopher Wood, Olympian Dreamers, Victorian Classical Painters 1860 - 1914, London, 1983, p. 247).

In the present work, Godward presents a seated model within a tondo, seen in profile from the left  and looking out over a faraway Mediterranean vista. The composition provides Godward with a showcase for his unrivaled mastery of painting textures: the diaphanous sea-green stola, (the feminine form of the ancient Roman toga), translucent against her smooth skin which rests against the warm fur of the tiger's pelt, the variegated marble, and the model's red hair, tied with a thin pink ribbon, all framed against a deep maroon drape. Brilliantly arranged within this circular composition, Godward displays many of the hallmarks of the wider aesthetic movement prevalant at the end of the century, promoting the importance of formal and sensual qualities over visual narrative.

Copyright letters exist for most of Godward's paintings from 1904, the year the present work was completed, and it may be possible that the artist’s title was not used by his dealer, Thomas McLean (namely A Pompeian Lady).  Of the works placed with McLean in 1904, there are three possible titles for this painting: Aspasia, Contemplation, and Meditation.