John William Godward, R.B.A.

Commissioned by Thomas McLean, 25 July 1903;
Sotheby’s, London 18 June 1985, lot 55, bought by Whitford & Hughes, London;
Private collection
 

Vern Grosvenor Swanson, John William Godward - The Eclipse of Classicism, 1997, pp.78, 210, cat.no.1903.8, illustrated colour plate 53, p.75

The canvas has not been lined and the work is in very good overall condition. There are localised areas of fine craquelure to the figure's purple robe and small areas where the paint surface is thin to her fan. There is some abrasion to the left framing edge. The paint surface is slightly dirty and could benefit from a very light clean. UV light inspection reveals one very minor spot of retouching to the lower centre of her purple robe. Held in an ornate classical tabernacle frame.
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'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 and flowers and Leighton in the depiction of drapery.' (Vern Swanson, John William Godward - The Eclipse of Classicism, 1997, dustjacket)

A beautiful Grecian maiden is leaning languorously against a marble wall dressed in a scarlet toga tied at the shoulders with golden straps. Over her gown she wears a shawl of wine-coloured fabric which gives a glorious, sumptuous effect. Above her is an azure sky above the Mediterranean sea. The heat of the Ionian weather is suggested by the large fan of peacock feathers in her hand which also adds an exotic note to the idyllic scene. Her skin glows in the sunlight and her cheeks are blushed with health and vitality and her expression is both demure and inviting. The title of Godward’s painting is Rendez-vous, adding a romantic frisson to the young woman’s engaging expression which suggests that she has turned from gazing out to sea to welcome the approach of her lover. We, as the audience, play the role of her beloved and in many pictures of this period by Godward his women gaze out as though engaging directly with their spectators. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Godward’s work remains so popular.

The gentle tranquillity of Godward’s image is reinforced by the harmonious interplay of rich colours and textures, demonstrating the artist’s unparalleled mastery of fabric and tone. Godward excelled at single-figure compositions – perhaps a tribute to his lonely personality - which allowed his brush to dwell lovingly on the model’s face and flow fluidly over the surface. Godward was a prolific painter of classical subjects and throughout his forty-year career he focused solely on an imaginary, idyllic Greek and Roman world. Unlike many other artists, Godward did not need to paint for a living, and thus his compositions came ‘directly from his soul.’ In terms of subject matter, drapery, architectural settings, and paint handling, Godward was the equal of Alma-Tadema, Leighton, Poynter, and Moore, but during his life, he never received a comparable amount of acclaim or public recognition. This was largely due to the fact that as Godward’s painting reached its zenith, Classical genre painting was being eclipsed by the onward surge of modernity and the bitter disillusionment of mankind after the First World War.

Little is known about Godward’s life because his family burned all of his personal papers and documents after his suicide in 1922. What we can piece together about his life creates a portrait of a determined, isolated, and reclusive man ‘passionately enthralled with feminine beauty’ and stubbornly committed to his classical ideals. Godward was the eldest of five children born to a hard-working, prosperous middle-class family in London. His father, an investment clerk in a life assurance office, strongly encouraged his oldest son to follow his career path, and for some time, Godward acquiesced. However, Godward also took lessons in architecture from William Hoff Wontner, and we can trace Godward’s masterful perspective and exceptional portrayal of marble in his paintings back to these early years. After W.H. Wontner’s death, Godward studied under his son, William Clark Wontner, and then most likely went on to train at one of London’s many local art schools, much to his family’s chagrin. In 1887, Godward secured his entry into the Royal Academy with his painting, A Yellow Turban, and he would continue to exhibit there until 1905, when he moved to Italy. Godward’s work was admired by the prominent art dealer, Arthur Tooth, and he purchased ten of the artist’s early oils. The following year, Godward transferred to the art dealer Thomas Muller McLean, who was one of his greatest champions and when Mclean’s daughter married in 1903 he gave her the oil sketch for Rendez-vous.

Godward was a productive and consistent artist, producing on average fifteen to twenty high quality paintings a year. His income was supplemented by engraved reproductions of his images, making him fairly popular with the middle-class Victorian market. For the next twenty years, Godward would live and work in various artist studios throughout London, including Bolton Studios, a hive for classical artists, and the quiet, reclusive No. 410 Fulham Road. He filled his studios with marbles, ancient statues, and antique objects to create a Greco-Roman environment and bring his imaginary world to life. He selected his models from a small pool of professionals and had a strong preference for those with Italian features, which he believed made his images convincingly classical. In his portrayal of these women, he eschewed the ‘classical’ ideal to capture their personalities, true features, and warm bodies. Godward then clothed these bodies in a variety of brightly coloured, ethereal robes and stolas and set them against stunningly depicted classical scenes.

Around the turn of the century Godward appears to have found a new dark-haired model for his paintings and it is her handsome features that appear for at least a decade. She is depicted reclining on a marble bench in Midday of 1900 (Manchester City Art Gallery), feeding goldfish in Feeding Time of 1899 (Bury Art Gallery and Museum) and teasing a kitten in Idleness of 1900 (sold in these rooms, 12 July 2007, lot 25). She is perhaps at her loveliest when Godward depicted her lost in romantic reverie in Rendez-vous and in Sweet Dreams of 1901 (private collection) and the superlative Dolce far Niente of 1902 (Sotheby’s, New York, 9 May 2014, lot 24). As the decade progressed it was her face that appears to have been Godward’s primary muse.