John William Godward

John William Godward was born in 1861 in Wilton Grove, not far from Wimbledon, and is one of the last representatives of English Pre-Raphaelite painting.

He was trained under William Clarke Wontner, a British portrait painter who initiated him into the academic and romantic vocabulary.

Artistically a follower of Frederic Leighton’s theories, thematically he shows a closeness to the language of Laurence Alma-Tadema, with whom he shares an interest in Roman and Greek classicism.

Poet of the feminine grace, spokesperson for neo-Pompeian painting

In fact, the artist specialised in Neo-Pompeian painting, becoming one of the greatest singers of Apollonian beauty at the end of the Victorian era.

His exhibition debut took place at the Royal Academy in 1887 and he continued to participate for several editions. The absolute protagonist of his paintings is the woman, whether she is a priestess, a bacchante, a goddess, a heroine of myth or a simple maiden. His female figures stand out against marble backgrounds in classical settings, with an emphasis on decorativism. In fact, the painter meticulously studies every detail, even from an archaeological point of view, to lend authenticity to his works. Particular interest is also paid to the costumes, fabrics depicted and the marble on which the female figures rest. His production is characterised by brilliant colouring and an extraordinary technical skill that lends grace and harmony to the subjects depicted.

The two trips to Italy and the Roman sojourn

His style reached maturity towards the end of the century, achieving great success also thanks to the support of the collector and dealer Thomas McLean who spread his production abroad. Paintings such as Campaspe, Eighty and Eighteen, The Bath of Venus, Dolce far niente and Summer Flowers belong to these years.

Between 1904 and 1905 he made his first trip to Italy where he was able to study live what he had only imagined or seen reproduced: he visited Rome, Naples, Pompeii and Capri, the scenery of which expanded his artistic vocabulary.

He then returned to Italy in 1911 to follow a model of Italian origin with whom he fell in love, settling in Rome for seven years, surrounded by classical antiquity. In the Eternal City, he took a studio in the Villa Strohl-Fern where he came into contact with numerous artists in a climate of great cultural ferment. Here he painted several of his most famous works, such as a series of portraits of maidens to whom he gave Roman names. An example of this production is Dorilla, a work from 1913, which gives voice to the idea of the eternal Apollonian feminine beauty, merging contemporary language with classical.

The artist continued to enjoy a discrete notoriety until the spread of the avant-garde, which relegated him to artistic isolation. The painter did not accept what for him became a corruption of artistic beauty. He returned to England in 1919 and committed suicide two years later, at the age of sixty.

Emanuela Di Vivona