 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Victorian Art in Britain |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John
William Godward
1861-1922
| Godward
was the son of a successful middle class family. He was originally a
follower of Alma-Tadema, and of all his followers was the closest to
him in terms of ability. His motivation was different from that of Tadema,
in that he had no interest in genuinely re-creating scenes from antiquity.
His pictures were essentially decorative. Godward was a deeply unhappy,
tragic figure, & his life story makes depressing reading. His family,
with an authoritarian father, & a narrow minded mother disapproved
of their eldest son becoming a painter. They must have strongly disliked
his pictures of semi-draped women in sunny Mediterranean settings. Godward
never married, & grew increasingly solitary & depressed as he
got older. In the twentieth century he lived in Italy for a number of
years. When he returned to London in 1921, his artistic world had vanished,
& become an object of derision. Godward committed suicide in 1922,
by asphyxiating himself with gas. There is not a single remaining photograph
of him as an adult, as his elderly, unforgiving mother destroyed them
all.
Godward has, until recently, been regarded as merely a minor follower of Alma-Tadema, but in the last twenty years there has been renewed interest in Godward, whose paintings have increased hugely in price. This has been driven by private collectors in the United States. It would be unforgivable at this point not to mention the work of Vern Grosvenor Swanson, who has done so much to revive interest in Godward, & whose book John William Godward & The Eclipse of Classicism, the product of many years of research, expertise, & hard work has been the source of much of this information.
Reading Suggestion
|
