Godward Brings $1,300,000 Hammer at Sotheby's NY Sale
November 8, 2013
 | John William Godward's 14 1/4 x 29 in., oil on canvas, Dolce far Niente, sold today for over $1,500,000 when including buyers premiums. The 1906 painting is a solid work for the artist, but it far exceeded the $400,000 to $600,000 estimate. The results are especially impressive considering the painting sold for $290,000 at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers only six months ago. |
| About the work Dr. Vern Swanson, Godward authority, said the following: "Without narrative implications, the viewer is left to linger in this timeless place, rich with luminous surfaces of veined marble and garnet colored, Classically-inspired fabrics softly draped over the body of the maiden, who rests against plush textures of a leopard pelt. With her dark brown hair spilling over the pearly stone, eyes dreamily unfocused, the model is completely relaxed; the long curving lines of her upturned arm, hips, and extended legs are echoed in the tops of the Ischian isles along the horizon line, further enhancing the sensual scene." | |