John Godward

John William Godward (1861-1922) was an English painter from the end of the Neo-Classicist era. He was a protégé of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, but his style of painting fell out of favour with the rise of modern art.

Godward was born in 1861 and lived in Wilton Grove, Wimbledon. He was born to Sarah Eboral and John Godward (an investment clerk at the Law Life Assurance Society, London). The eldest of five children, he was named after his father John and grandfather William, and was christened at St Mary's Church, Battersea on 17 October 1861. The overbearing behaviour of his parents made him reclusive and shy later in adulthood.

He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1887. His growing popularity allowed him to move out of his parents' home to a studio in Chelsea, which he outfitted with antiques and marble statues to inform his painting. In 1912, Godward moved to Italy with one of his models, ultimately settling in Rome, near the Villa Borghese. Disliking his move to Italy, his family broke off all contact with him and even cut his image from family pictures. 

Godward returned to England in 1921, but suffered from poor health and depression, and his output declined sharply. In 1922, less than one year after his return, Godward committed suicide at age 61. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery, West London. His estranged family, who had disapproved of his becoming an artist, were ashamed of his suicide and burned his papers. Only one photograph of Godward is known to survive.

One of his best-known paintings is Dolce far Niente (1904), which was purchased for the collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber in 1995. As in the case of several other paintings, Godward painted more than one version; in this case, an earlier (and less well-known) 1897 version with a further 1906 version.