John William Godward R.B.A.

Messrs. Eugène Cremetti, London, September 8, 1910
Sale: Christie's, London, December 21, 1933, lot 26 (to D.T. Brown of Colwyn Bay North Wales)
Mr. Cresner

Letter from Messrs. Cremetti to Godward (September 8, 1910)
Vern G. Swanson, John William Godward: The Eclipse of Classicism, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1988, p. 226, no. 10

British painter John William Godward, one of the foremost Victorian Neoclassicists, built an illustrious career upon creating images of idealized feminine beauty within a Graeco-Roman-inspired idiom. Though greatly influenced by his mentor, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Godward distinguished himself through his predilection for the solitary female figure.  His fame rose dramatically in the first few years of the twentieth century due to the burgeoning strength of the British Empire. Iain Gale writes: “The early Victorians believe that in ancient Rome they had found a parallel universe – a flawless mirror of their own immaculate world” (Country Life, 30 May 1996, p. 68). According to Dr. Vern Swanson, “This last burst of interest, though not shared by socialist intelligentsia, was widespread and deeply rooted, especially by scholars and their opposite, the industrial nouveau riche” (p. 89).  The year 1910 emerged as one of the most successful in Godward’s career and provides the backdrop for some of his most appealing work. Memories, painted in 1910, embodies Godward’s lifelong preoccupation with depicting beautiful young women in classical-inspired dress residing in dream-like, Arcadian settings. 

 

“Godward’s work is truly a classical ‘gallery of beauty,’ presenting one dark-haired, gorgeously robed figure after another” (Joseph Kestner, Mythology and Misogyny: The Social Discourse of Nineteenth-Century British Classical Subject Painting, Wisconsin, 1989, p. 338).  By often employing titles such as Memories, Contemplation or Expectation, Godward infuses his somewhat detached characters with an emotional narrative. In Memories, the wistful expression of the Grecian beauty as she absent-mindedly inhales the rose’s fragrance suggests an intimate personal recollection.