John William Godward (British, 1858-1922)

The tambourine girl

Details

John William Godward (British, 1858-1922)
The tambourine girl
signed and dated 'JW Godward 1906' (lower left)
oil on canvas
22 x 11 in. (60 x 29.5 cm.)
Painted in 1906

Provenance

W. S. Marchant; sale, Christie's London 1 June 1917, lot 115.
Messrs. Eugene Cremetti, London.
Dowell's, Edinburgh (acquired from the above, 1932).
Priory Gallery, Gloucestershire.
Peter Nahum, London.
Private Collection.

Literature

A. Vincent, A Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Artists (as Girl with a Tambourine).
V. Swanson, John William Godward, The Eclipse of Classicism, London, 1997, p. 84 and p. 218, pl. 12 (illustrated in color), also listed on page 278.

Exhibited

Paris, Salon, 1906.

Lot Essay

This painting has two alternative titles: Greek Girl with Tambourine and Girl with a Tambourine and was exhibited by Godward in the Paris Salon of 1906. The dark-haired beauty wears a diaphanous, maroon 'coa vestis' dress and stands beside a sculpted bas-relief wall with pink oleander behind. Godward is regarded by many as an equal to Alma-Tadema in his handling of marble and flowers and to Leighton in the depiction of drapery.