John William Godward (British, 1861-1922)
THE PROPERTY OF A NORTH EASTERN COLLECTOR
John William Godward (British, 1861-1922)

At the Garden Shrine, Pompeii

Details
John William Godward (British, 1861-1922)
At the Garden Shrine, Pompeii
signed and dated 'J.W. Godward/1892' (lower left)
oil on canvas
25¼ x 10¼ in. (64 x 26 cm.)
Painted in 1892
Provenance
Collection of the Artist.
Thomas McLean, London (acquired from the above).
Mrs. John W. Tompkins, London, 1892 (acquired from the above).
Richard Haworth, Lancashire.
W. George Holland, Blackburn, 1934 (acquired from the above on 27 September 1934).
Norah K. Holland, Folkstone (by descent from the above).
Robin A. Lamb, Billingshurst (by descent from the above).
Literature
McLean letter with sketch to Godward, 30 March 1892 (Milo-Turner Collection).
V.G. Swanson, John William Godward, London, 1997, p. 182, pl. 16 (illustrated).
Exhibited
London, Thomas McLean, 28th Annual Exhibition, 1892, no. 21.

Lot Essay

In a letter from Thomas McLean to Godward, he writes: 'We write to say that we will buy your small upright picture entitled, At the Garden Shrine, Pompeii at 75 British pounds, the copyright remaining in your possession'. This amount is interesting in that it gives a sense of Godward's prices at the time for a 'small upright picture'. In order to turn a profit, McLean would have had to ask 150 pounds for the picture. This was a hefty amount by the standards of his day and translated into today's money would equal about $7000!"(Swanson, pp. 182-3).

Set in an ancient garden courtyard, Godward's classical lady poses with one hand resting on a tiger skin rug, the other holding a rose which she smells. She stands before an aediculum that houses two personal statuettes and a traditional incense burner. In the foreground, set on a lion-headed trapezophorus table, he added objects such as a red-figured Greek hydria and pieces of Roman glass to embellish the atmosphere of this courtyard. The marriage of his brushwork to his extraordinary palette of colors results in a range of textures - the cold and hard feel of the marble next to the soft and ephemeral fabric of the model's purple and green toga. Godward's precise rendering of the foreground elements stands in contrast to the more 'impressionistic' treatment of the background, sensitively altering the effects of light and color to produce an atmospheric effect. Not only do his artistic imitations of the classical world reveal attention to decorative detail, but reinforce the desire to keep alive the glory of a time long past.

There is a related pencil study of the lady in the present composition entitled Sketch of a Roman Couple (circa 1892) still in the Godward family's collection.

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