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| J.W. Godward: the Eclipse of Classicism, by Vern Grosvenor Swanson, Phd |
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Godward's four canvases, At the Fountain, Sitting for Her Portrait, Portrait of a Girl and Rest were exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art in May of 1893. The former picture has a polka-dot stola wrapped about the waist of the lady. The stola was a hallmark of his art throughout his career, while the polka-dot design relates specifically to the 1893-94 period. His oil, Rest was also exhibited later that year at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
Godward's career was further vouchsafed with the printing of photoengravings of some of his canvases by McLean, mostly through the noted German printer, Franz Hanfstaengl.118 The first of at least eight pictures so printed, was The Betrothed (1892) in September of 1893. It was followed by The Tiff (1888) in November of 1894. Unlike his earlier prints this one was widely disseminated through magazines, such as Cosmopolitan and Pearson's of 1896. Though hardly a household name, he was becoming known as an artist of some reputation. Both plaudits and stinging criticism were being heaped upon Godward more readily now than in the past. Certainly the two most impressive pictures of this 'break-through' year were his, Endymion (1893) and Yes or No? (1893). Endymion is the most impressive picture in Godward's first great year of art. An old label on the back of the first oil refers to Keats' poem, "Endymion -- a sleep full of sweet dreams and health and quite breathings." Though full of linear arabesques, glowing colours and rich materials, the picture has a quite unity and calm surrounding the sleeping Endymion. The Yes or No? picture might also be a self-portrait of the artist. It is certainly Godward's most successful multi-figured composition. Two other pictures of note for 1893 include his, Daydreams and The Mirror. Daydreams was later exhibited in 1894 at the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. It continues the theme of "reclining women" began the previous year in The Betrothed. With Godward's oil, The Mirror (1893) the artist has gained full control over the artistic elements of his work. It is a stunning performance for the thirty-two year old artist. The diaphanous red gown and realistic marble have now come to fruition in this work. When the artist's grandfather, William Godward, died on March 5th of 1893 he left £12,324 to his sons, William Jr. and John Godward, the artist's father. Though he rarely did them, John William was obliged to paint a portrait of his grandfather. It is the only known male portrait, to date, by the artist. He had painted William Godward Sr.'s wife, Mary Perkinton, as a youth, after the fact of his grandmothers death, and now he paints his grandfather's portrait posthumously from a photograph. Later in 1893, Mr. and Madame Edward Chappel opened the Gunter Grove Studio at 24 Gunter Grove, Fulham Road, just up the street from Godward's home and studio. Madame Chappel taught fan, china and silk painting, while her husband Edward, gave instruction in figure, animal, still-life and landscape painting and pastel. There is nothing unusual about this studio, except that it was under the direct patronage of Lawrence Alma-Tadema RA.!119 If nothing else it is an interesting juxtaposition. The Royal British Artist's Winter Exhibition catalogue for 1893-94, has Godward's name among the member's list but he had no pictures in the show. In the following exhibition catalogue, 1894 Annual Exhibition, his name does not appear at all, nor any time thereafter. Not a joiner and certainly not an club person, he must have felt uncomfortable with the anti-classical bias of the RBA and resigns or becomes an inactive member in the organization after 1892.
Despite such criticism some of Godward's best work came from his St. Leonard's Studio. His tenure at the studio ended in December of 1894. That year was not particularly plentiful in pictures, but several outstanding pieces are known. His A Priestess (1894) is a monumental picture of a Bacchante, a Priestess of Bacchus, guarding the gates to the temple. It has compositional similarities with At the Gate of the Temple of 1898. It was the largest painting by the artist to date, standing over 86 inches high. Through it, Godward must have hoped to impress the academy, critics and public alike. Godward's Young Woman (1894) is a standing figure of a Roman maiden. Like other pictures of the period it has a polka-dot stola, which is one of the last of its kind painted by Godward. His An Offering to the Gods (1894) is unknown to us, except through a letter from the artist's dealer, Thomas McLean, noting that the painting was purchased from him for £80.120 This is considerably less than what Tadema would receive for a small drawing. It may be that Godward's strategy was to develop a form of painterly short-hand which would allow him to be more prolific, while seeming to be fully academic. Also in 1894 his friend, William Clarke Wontner, moved from No.18 Fitzroy Street to a delightful house at Number 1, "The Studios," Edwardes Square in Kensington, close to Godward's future home in Fulham. Wontner would move once more to No.26 Edwardes Square before moving to Godward's home at No. 410 Fulham Road in 1910-11. During this year Wontner also married Jessie Marguerite Keene of Hampstead.121 For Wontner, as for Godward, this was a period of raising reputation and wealth. | |
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Historian, Giles Walkley suggests, "that Godward's landlord's at St. Leonard's Terrace and Studios, Arthur Cocks and Samuel Elsworthy, may have found him the Fulham Road property."125 They seem to be disposed to provide for artists. Nos. 410/412 was already in an area of artist's studio's by the 1890's and No. 410 was perfectly suited for his artistic needs.
Unlike the Johnson years, Godward's residency would turn the house into a hermitage. Half hermit himself; parties, artist's "Tuesdays" and drop-in visitors simply would not occur. Unlike Alma-Tadema who made his home the social center for London elite, the retiring Godward veritably hid himself behind the high wall surrounding No. 410. Bustling commercial Fulham Road was not the natural retreat that Grove End Road in St. John's Wood was, but the studios there shunned traffic noise as best they could. Remodeling the large house as a studio was probably too daunting for the squeamish artist. A better solution would have been to build a new studio in the garden behind according to Godward's specifications. This view is supported by Giles Walkley who writes, "It was probably by educated [guess] & interpolation of the Valuation Books entries that I decided Godward had build his own garden studio behind 410 Fulham Road."129 By the Spring of 1895, Godward was poised to paint again in his new studio.130 We are not really sure if the move was prompted by Godward's art dealer, by serendipitous opportunity, or through encouragement from family or friends. He undoubtedly had close acquaintances, but close friends was another matter. He lead a life too absorbed with his own vision for such an investment in the outside world. However it seems that Godward made a wise business investment in 1896 in also acquiring the leasehold on the premises of No. 412, just in front of No. 410.131 Just two doors down from his home at Studio C, 404 Fulham Road, worked William Lee-Hankey since 1899.132 In the same complex lived the landscape and figure painter, Edmund L. Van Someren at 404 in Studio D; painter/decorator William M. Palin at 404 in Studio A; and landscape painter, William Wiehe Collins (1862-1951) at 404 in Studio B.133 Collins was close enough to our artist to be the recipient of a Godward present -- a small oil study. Lee-Hankey, who became president of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, probably was as close to John William as anyone.134 Then a little further down the road worked: the landscape painter Joseph T. Friedenson at 423 Fulham Road; figure painter John A Sherlock; figure painter Delaphoer Downing; Miss Mabel Ashby; sculptor Benjamin Lloyd and even, at one time, the noted Holman Hunt. None of these later artists seem to have played a role in Godward's life. There was one point of convergence between Alma-Tadema and Godward's life. It was the way they used their home as an instrument of their art. Ivy Godward admitted that the only outside interest John William had was, "to visit local shops and East End dealers for marbles and ancient antique paraphernalia."135 He must have brought with him numerous accoutrements of an artistic or historical nature from his St. Leonard's Terrace residence and studio. These were used to decorate his home in much the same way and for the same purpose that Tadema did his home. Tadema noted the important that his studio had on his art: Unlike Tadema, who created wonderfully authentic Japanese, Arab, Egyptian and Medieval rooms, Godward only wanted a vaguely Greco-Roman pastiche. He too saw these items as reflecting, though not recreating, a "Classical chamber." The beautiful marble slabs, ancient statues (mostly reproductions) and antique accoutrements attempted to create the ambiance he wished his paintings to evoke. His death notice in The Connoisseur substantiates this involvement: Later, sometime after Godward's death, a sculptor named Mario Manenti acquired this Roman Villa in West Kensington and turned it into numerous small ateliers called "The Italian Village." Undoubtedly it was thus designated because of the decorative and antique material left over from Godward's residence and of course, Manenti was Italian and both were acquainted with the Villa Strohl-Fern studios in Rome. It might be argued that the change in venue, from St. Leonard's to Fulham Road also effected some change on Godward's technique, subject or style. This too was very much like Alma-Tadema, who was always influenced by his studio design, colour and light, as the great artist duly noted: Was Godward's work similarly influenced? An example of this may be demonstrated in Head of A Woman (1895) an otherwise innocuous oil. Its important lies in that it represents an excellent example of Godward's changing painting technique. Here his representation of the edges of objects, folds of drapery and face are soft. Instead of his later penchant for following the contour of the form being represented, he brushed on his paint, cross-ways, in thick impasto, wet into wet, allowing feathered edges. By 1894-95 even his smaller work begins to become harder-edge and handled with a crispier finesse.
A large oil by Godward, Mischief and Repose (1895), now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibou California, is typical of his duo-figured compositions. They are rather ungainly. Godward did not show in any major exhibitions in 1895, though his An Eastern Dancing Girl was at the McLean Winter Exhibition and Farewell at the Arthur Tooth Winter Exhibition. Certainly the most interesting oil for the year was his canvas entitled A Siesta. It is Godward's attempt to paint a version of Lord Leighton's Flaming June. Coincidentally both paintings are now in the Musee de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico! | |
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