Art Speak Index

john-william-godward

william-bouguereau

joaquin-alberto-vargas-y-chavez

maxfield-parrish

i-may-not-know-art-but-i-know-what-i-like

art-speak

John William Godward

 was one of the finest exponents of what has become known as the Greco-Roman style which flourished in the mid 19th to early 20th century, the qualities of his art in several respects even rivalling that of Alma-Tadema and Leighton. Yet little is known of the private life of this reclusive, shy yet talented painter - a life which was to end so tragically - since details concerning it were protected by both himself and his family. What we do know results from recent scholarly research conducted by Vern G Swanson who summarises Godward's position in the history of art thus:

     "In Godward's work we see the final summation of half a millennium of classical antique influence on Western painting ... It vanished during Godward's generation - killed, as it were, by contemporary nihilistic philosophies ... What Godward does represent is a microcosm for all classicists during a period aptly called The Twilight of the Gods or The Eclipse of Classicism."

John William Godward was born into a respectable and financially secure Victorian family living in Battersea, London. His father was an investment clerk in a life assurance office in Fleet Street. His mother, ne Sarah Eboral, lived to be over a hundred years old, dying in 1935, outliving John William who was the first of five children.

As a boy, he had a sheltered and somewhat claustrophobic home life dominated by his father who had in mind that his sons should follow the stable and respectable family profession of insurance and banking. The others did , but John William only for a short time. Evidence points to the family being acquainted with the noted architect, designer and renderer William Hoff Wontner (1814-1881), and, John William exhibiting some early drawing skills, they apparently saw little harm at the time in allowing their son to study at least rendering and graining with him during the period 1879-1881 - on a recreational basis in the evenings. This he did together with the architect's son, William Clarke Wontner, who was to become his lifelong friend. Godward was destined to become an acknowledged master of faux marble and his skill in rendering perspective and architectural elements surely had their origin in this period.

The death of W H Wontner left the twenty year old Godward undertrained without his mentor and it is thought that William Clarke Wontner, four years his senior and an art teacher himself, assumed the responsibility for his continued training.

There is no evidence of Godward attending the Royal Academy of Art School, it being more likely that he enrolled at the Clapham School of Art which offered special instruction to students who wished to obtain the "Art Class Teachers' Certificate". They also taught evening classes which would have enabled him to continue working for his father during the day.

Godward's interest in the classical subject genre probably owes much to his acquaintance with the St. John's Wood group (Dicksee, Poynter, Waterhouse et al.) via Wontner's move to a studio there and his teaching at the St. John's Wood Art School.

1887 saw his first accepted entry into the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition - A Yellow Turban. Although it attracted little attention it did herald his acceptance as a 'real' artist, enabling his painting to be taken more seriously and gain some acceptance from his disapproving family. He continued to exhibit there regularly until 1905 - possibly for this reason.

His paintings were first placed with a sales gallery of note in 1888 - that of Arthur Tooth and Sons of Haymarket Street in the West End of London. However he soon settled with the competing dealer Messrs. Thomas Miller McLean who had premises just next door to Tooth and who also represented Alma-Tadema and Poynter.

At the age of 26 he had finally gained sufficient confidence to leave his parents' home (now in Wimbledon) - at least for part of the time - and take an atelier at No. 19 Bolton Studios in Kensington. These 27 studios were a hotbed for classical artists in the area and tended to be occupied on a shared basis. Amongst the other artists working there at the time were Henry Ryland (1856-1924) and George Lawrence Bulleid (1858-1933). The three became friends and seemed to inspire each other's work.

Godward's final break with his parent's home came in 1889 after a period of financial success selling through McLean, when he moved into a leasehold house in St. Leonard's Terrace, Chelsea (50 yards from the home of the novelist Bram Stoker). Just around the corner he was also able to occupy his own studio at No.1 St. Leonard's Studios - a spacious single-storey building. These moves gave him all-round greater accessibility - to his dealer, to other artists and to the models.

The year of his move, Godward painted about 25 oils, mostly for McLean, of which two of the most ambitious works were Sewing Girl (GOW001) and Waiting for an Answer(GOW002). The latter painting possibly incorporates a self-portrait - the similarity of the male figure to Godward's brothers as seen in various photographs is quite striking (there are no known extant photographs of the artist). The girl in the painting is his regular model with whom he might have had an amorous liaison. It is certainly noteworthy that he painted very few men, and then never alone - a constant reminder possibly of his own loneliness and unrequited love.

The following year, 1891, saw at least 21 oils by the prolific artist including some of the finest to receive media recognition. Amongst them was Sweet Siesta of a Summer Day(GOW003) which hung in the RA Summer Exhibition that year.

McLean's 18th annual London exhibition of 1892 featured the academic At the Garden Shrine, Pompeii (GOW006). McLean had purchased it for 75 - a large amount at the time for such a small canvas an an indication of the growing esteem in which his paintings were increasingly held. The Betrothal (GOW007) was another important work of that year since it introduced the 'polka-dot' stola into his repertoire of props, and it was also his first work to be accepted into the permanent collection of a major art museum, being donated in 1916 to the Guildhall Art Gallery.

1893 might be regarded as Godward's creative watershed in which his style matured and his career became fully established. It was also at this time that some of his canvases were reproduced and published by McLean as photo-engravings. One of these was The Betrothed. Some were also widely publicised through magazines. The two most impressive works of this year are Endymion (GOW008) and "Yes or No?" (GOW009).

In 1894 Godward moved out of the St. Leonard's Terrace studios, taking a 40 year lease on a more prestigious property at 410 Fulham Road. Like Alma-Tadema, he used his home as an instrument of his art and decorated it internally as an ancient Roman building set in a garden of pergolas and fountains. After his death, an Italian sculptor, Mario Manenti, acquired this building in West Kensington and turned it into numerous small ateliers called "The Italian Village". But, unlike Alma-Tadema's home which was always open to parties, "artist's Tuesdays" and drop-in visitors, conversely Godward's home was more of a hermitage which he left only to visit the shops and East End dealers in marbles and antique paraphernalia.

The new century arrived with Godward still painting prolifically and becoming recognised as a major exponent of classical figure painting. However, his retiring nature still hindered him in significantly furthering his career and, by the turn of the century, beauties painters had difficulty in receiving critical acclaim beyond the walls of the Royal Academy. Notwithstanding this, a major work from this period is Ionian Dancing Girl (GOW019), which was exhibited at the New Gallery in 1902 to great critical praise. Then, with a subtle change of style, his 1903 canvas Summer Flowers (GOW020) was the first in which flowers became a more dominant feature. He had used the effect before, but never so profusely.

In 1904 the artist's father died and, following from this, he bought for himself an interment plot in Brompton Cemetery, just behind his home. However, far from being set back by these sad times, in the same year Godward actually produced two of his finest paintings - Dolce Far Niente (GOW021) and In the Days of Sappho (GOW022). The former was actually one of 7 paintings bearing this title and it depicts an Italian model wearing a luxurious saffron robe as an exhausted Bacchante collapsed after a frenzied dance. The viewer's eye is led to the recumbent girl via her peacock fan and bear and lion furs. The latter canvas is a beautifully composed and rendered set-piece notable for its original and subtle colour scheme with the girl capturing the viewer's attention by gazing out of the picture.

1905 saw Godward's last RA Summer Exhibition - possibly he gave up trying to attract the attention of the greater British populace - although he still continued to exhibit in Paris and elsewhere on the Continent. He also made his first trip to Italy and it is thought that he stayed in Capri from where he ventured out to paint oil studies near Sorrento, Pompeii and the Bay of Naples. Works from this period include the monumental Nerissa (GOW024) and Drusilla (GOW023), possibly inspired by his Pompeian visits.

The period 1908-1910 saw the consolidation of the artist's reputation, particularly through the sale of prints. 1908 also saw the death of his long-term dealer Thomas McLean, whose business was then taken over by Eugne Cremetti & Son. Fortunately they continued with the sale of Godward's paintings which now also began appearing for sale through dealers in Northern England. One of his finest works from this period is Noonday Rest (GOW027) which depicts a reclining beauty on a marble ledge with the beautiful yet poisonous oleander bush appearing from behind a column - symbolising the Victorian view of the fickleness of women - the whole bound in a fine synthesis of the contrasting textures of marble, fur, fabric and flesh.

In 1910 William Clarke Wontner and his wife, Jessie, moved from their Kensington home to reside at Godward's address at 410 Fulham Road. It is likely that the latter rented them the main house whilst he himself occupied his preferred studio house at the bottom of the garden. Wontner, being down on his fortune at this time, stayed there until 1921. From this time onwards, the influence of Godward's style and the scenery in his home had an obvious influence on the subsequent work of his friend.

By 1912 Godward had left England to reside in Rome. The reason for his departure is unknown, although critical acclaim in London was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain by this time and living in Italy might have added an air of authenticity to the work of such a 'classical' artist. Certainly, in Rome there existed a flourishing classical school at this time, including many foreign artists. Unfortunately, little detail is known concerning his years in Italy. Milo-Turner, however, tells that he left England in a hurry running off with his Italian model, an act for which his mother never forgave him.

The large painting Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (GOW030) marked the beginning of his Roman period - a felicitous trompe d'oeil work combining the typical sensuous innocence of the model with still life irises. In a similar vein, one of his best works of that year was A Tryst (GOW031).

While in Rome, Godward lived in an artist studio at No. 2 Villa Strohl-Fern which was situated on Monti Parioli near the main entrance to the Gardens of the Villa Borghese. The studios were custom-built to high standards and there was a pervasive Bohemian feel to the maze of studios lining shaded terraces surrounded by rare plants with the nearby large garden filled with Roman statuary. The Villa was home to many artists, amongst the most notable being the Russian Ilya Repin (1844-1930).

In 1913 Godward was awarded the gold medal at the Rome Internationale exhibition for 

William Bouguereau

 Forgotten Modern Master Painter

William Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 - August 19, 1905) was a popular nineteenth-century French painter often overlooked in modern studies of art.

Bouguereau's training in the Academic style of art began with Classical and Biblical subjects under the tutelage of his uncle Eugne, a parish priest, who arranged for him to study further. Had he not shown artistic talent, he might have gone into his family's business to become a merchant of wine and olive oil. Instead, among his first jobs were painting portraits of his uncle's parishioners and designing labels for jars of preserves and jams, the money from which helped fund his education at the cole des Beaux-Arts. During his career, his works were exhibited annually at the Paris Salon, which was at that time considered the greatest art event in the world.

In addition to Classical themes based on Greek or Roman mythology, and religious themes based on the Bible or Catholic Tradition, Bouguereau's works included more contemporary pastoral themes that would not have seemed unfamiliar to someone living in rural France in the nineteenth century. Many of his paintings feature women, and some of his paintings feature full or partial nudity.

Not everyone appreciated Bouguereau's style. Some thought the subjects of his pastoral works were too beautiful and clean. Some thought his technique was too traditional to be relevant to the artistic philosophy of his day. It may be that influential critics are at least partly responsible for his relative anonymity in today's art world. As the Impressionist style gained acceptance, Bouguereau fell into disfavor with the public, not even being worthy of mention as a short entry in an encyclopedia. But today, his works are gaining acceptance again; over one hundred museums exhibit his works worldwide.

Joaquin Alberto Vargas y Chavez

Vargas was summoned to England in 1916 to begin his apprenticeship with a major English photography house. With World War One swirling around him, he found it impossible to get from Paris to London. It was, however, feasible to get to America and then back to Peru, so he headed for home. He didn't make it.

In New York, he began retouching photographs for a living and drawing and painting. Kirchner and Russell Flint  were the men who influenced him the most at this period, especially Kirchner's paintings for the Ziegfeld Follies. Kirchner died in 1917 and Florenz Ziegfeld found Vargas doing a painting exhibition in a window display promotion in 1919. Vargas became the primary Ziegfeld artist for a dozen years, painting portraits of all the stars of each season's Broadway extravaganza. Norma Talmadge from 1920 is at right. Perhaps it was from Ziegfeld that Vargas developed the tone of his art - the idealized depiction of the female form glorified but never vulgarized. Sensuality was everything, but the sex was never blatant. (Many years later he would find it almost physically impossible to produce a Playboy image with full frontal nudity - so ingrained was his respect for his subjects.)

The Ziegfeld images could have no bare breasts, yet throughout the twenties, Vargas created several very exotic nude paintings. It is probable that these were done to supplement the money that he was surely earning - and spending with wild abandon. When he eloped with his wife, Anna Mae, in 1930, he had to borrow the money to pay for the marriage license. Vargas was never a very successful business man and when the Follies work ended in 1931, he scoured the country for income. A sample of his 1933 style is at left.

Much of the decade was spent in low-paying positions in the art departments of various Hollywood studios. As the decade drew to a close, Vargas faced desperate times. He was in New York and his wife was still in California. Work was almost non-existent. Then, in an eerie echo of his replacing Kirchner at the Ziegfeld Follies, Esquire hired him to replace George Petty.

The "Petty Girl" had been a staple of Esquire Magazine since its inception and was generally credited with a good portion of its success. By 1940, Petty's price per picture and other aspects of his relationship with the publisher, David A. Smart, resulted in the magazine scouring the country for a replacement. Vargas was probably the only artist up to the task and Smart responded to his good fortune in finding him by taking every advantage possible of the man. In Vargas, by Alberto Vargas and Reid Austin, the original contract is reprinted in full and is shocking in its lopsidedness.

For instance, Petty was offered $1500 a picture to stay with Esquire in 1941, Vargas was indentured for three years at $75 a week with Esquire as his sole client and Esquire would take 50% of the monies gained from any sale of Vargas artwork. In 1944, under a new contract, Vargas produced almost a painting a week at the princely sum of $1000 a month. And the paintings were simply gorgeous.

The gatefold at left is from March 1943 and is very indicative of why Vargas and Esquire were so popular with G.I.s in World War Two. Actually, though, it was "Varga" who was popular. The name had been shortened to make it appear more exotic. In the ensuing acrimonious lawsuits between Vargas and Smart, it was revealed that Esquire had patented the name "Varga" - under which Alberto had developed his reputation. Of course, the patent was requested and granted in 1946 immediately after Vargas brought suit against Esquire to break the contract that bound him exclusively to the magazine until 1957.

He won the first round, but while the decision was under appeal, he was enjoined from using the "Varga" name. In 1950, the decision was reversed with Esquire owning the name. "Varga" was dead and "Vargas" had to raise himself from the ashes.

Above is one of the "Legacy Nudes." These and other personal efforts were created during the lean times of the late 40's and 50's and were meant as an "insurance policy" for his wife. Sadly, she died before him.

The early Fifties found Vargas playing cards, some starlet paintings in True Magazine, and other minor efforts. From 1954 to 1957 he had a monthly feature in an obscure British men's magazine. A pictorial in Playboy in 1957 and trip home to Peru in 1958 provided much-needed emotional succor, but the late Fifties were a time of no work. Vargas used the time to perfect his skills and when, in 1960, Hugh Hefner hired him to paint foldout nudes for Playboy he was ready.

At the age of 64, when most people are considering the notion of retirement, Vargas began a new career that would finally give him the respect and financial security he merited. He worked for Playboy for 16 years during which time he produced 152 paintings. Many of them were masterpieces, but the constant need to create a glamourous painting of a sexy 19 year old month after month often resulted in some formulaic and occasionally perfunctory work.

He retired in 1976. In 1978, with Reid Austin, he wrote Vargas, a compelling tale of his life profusely illustrated with rare and classic and even some previously unseen images. He died in 1982.

Maxfield Parrish

Maxfield Parrish (1870 - 1966) was an American painter and illustrator. Born Frederick Maxfield Parrish in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he began drawing for his own amusement early in his life. He went on to pursue a career that was to last for many decades and effectively shape the Golden Age of Illustration, and the future of American visual art in general. Launched by a commission to illustrate Kenneth Grahame's The Walls Were as of Jasper in 1897, his repertoire was to include many prestigious projects such as Eugene Field's Poems of Childhood (1904) and the traditional Arabian Nights (1909).

Androgynous nudes in fantastical settings were an often-recurring theme. He continued in this venue for the rest of his life, living comfortably off the royalties brought in by the production of posters and calendars featuring his works. Parrish was famous for the dazzlingly luminous colors that marked much of his artwork; the shade "Parrish blue" was coined in acknowledgement. He achieved this result by means of a special technique involving several coats of oil and varnish applied to his paintings. It is impossible to categorize Parrish's work, since he was part of no traditional movement or school, and developed a truly original style.

Maxfield Parrish was the most popular American artist from the turn of the century until Norman Rockwell succeeded him in the 1940's. Of Parrish, Mr. Rockwell said, "Maxfield Parrish was certainly one of our most prominent illustrators and hardly a home in America existed that didn't have a Maxfield Parrish print. I'm an illustrator. Maxfield Parrish was a painter-illustrator. He was in the Golden Age of Illustration. When I was in art school I admired him. He was one of my gods."

Parrish continued painting until he was about 90 years old and died at age 96. Each new generation seems to rediscover the magic and romance of Parrish art and some of his prints now command prices that reach into many thousands of dollars. Fortunately, many images may still be obtained at modest cost.

Art Speak

Sharing my appreciation of Art

old to new & The Masters

I may not know art but I know what I like

Tamara de Lempicka

She was born Tamara Gorska in Warsaw in 1898. She came from a wealthy family and married a well-off attorney, Tadeusz Lempicki, in Petrograd in 1916.

In 1918 Tamara and Tadeusz emigrated to Paris and Tamara gave birth to her only child, Kizette. It is here she received her first painting lessons- from Andr Lhote and Maurice Denis. Shortly thereafter her first paintings were sold from the Gallerie Colette Weill.

In 1925 she made a name for herself exhibiting at the first Art Deco exhibition in Paris. After having affairs with more than one wealthy "patron of the arts" she divorced Tadeusz, and married Baron Raoul Kuffner in 1933.

Raoul and Tamara moved to America in 1939 and exhibitions dedicated exclusively to her work appeared at The Paul Reinhart Gallery, Julian Levy's, Courvoisier Galleries, and the Milwaukee Institute of Art. Her artistic output, however, was decreasing.

In 1960 she changed her style to abstract art and began creating works with a spatula. When Raoul died of a heart attack in 1962 she all but gave up on painting.

In 1980, while living in Mexico, Tamara died in her sleep. Her daughter Kizette scattered her ashes over the crater of Mt. Popocatptl.

That was the tamer version of her autobiography but one only had to look at her works filled with erotic imagery both subtle and completely bold, to realize she was a woman who lived life completely on her own terms. her erotic paintings depicted women predominantely and rumors swirled about her sexuality. Those who knew her both as a friend and intimately confirmed the rumors and she never according to some admitted or denied but was reported to have said "Let them think what they like."  in searching for more information on her I came across this bio of a much more colorful nature.

De Lempicka was a very physical person. Her first lesbian affair was with a wealthy redhead, probably Ira Perrot, who modeled for her and took her to Italy, paying all expenses.

In Italy, the artist discovered the paintings of Botticelli and Messina and attended lesbian parties. At one such gathering she arranged food tastefully on the body of a nude woman and then slowly ate "her midnight meal." In her trips to Italy, she became part of a circle that included Violette Trefusis--the lover of Vita Sackville-West--and Colette.

These women appreciated bisexual behavior and had numerous affairs with individuals of both sexes. In 1933, de Lempicka began an affair with a singer at the Bote de Nuit, Suzy Solidar, a friendship that lasted several decades.

Generally, however, the artist pursued older men as social companions but slept with younger and handsome ones. Sophisticated, fashionable, and beautiful, she was often seen caressing a working-class boy one night and a woman the next. Eventually, Tadeusz refused to return to her and in 1928 they were divorced.

By the mid 1930s de Lempicka's work was extremely well received, although it has never fit neatly within stylistic boundaries. Her stylized and sleekly androgynous art deco portraits and compositions softened cubism into a decadent lushness. She sought the crispness of the old masters and rejected the Impressionists, whom she characterized as "dirty" and "not neat." But she also worked within the modernist tradition of concentrating on the surfaces of paintings.

While her portraits from 1920 to 1940 can be located within the French art deco school, her later work touches on other traditions, including Surrealism and still life. Among the unique aspects of her style is the overt lesbianism that informs it, especially in her female nudes.

In 1934, de Lempicka married Baron Raoul Kuffner, who held title to the largest single estate in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He had asked her in 1928 to paint his mistress, the famous Andalusian dancer Nana de Herrera. The portrait has been seen as something of an assassination, since it makes the graceful dancer appear gauche and awkward. The portraitist soon replaced de Herrera as the baron's mistress.

At the outbreak of war in 1939, de Lempicka and her husband emigrated to America. After a successful one-woman show in Paul Reinhart's Gallery in Los Angeles, de Lempicka and her husband took up residence in director King Vidor's former home in Beverly Hills.

She was soon the "Favorite Artist of the Hollywood Stars." Greta Garbo, Dolores del Rio, and Tyrone Power visited her studio. Even today Lempicka's connection with Hollywood continues, as the most avid contemporary collectors of her paintings are Madonna and Jack Nicholson.

De Lempicka died in her sleep in 1980. A play based on her life, Tamara, opened in Hollywood in 1985 with Anjelica Huston and had a long run. Although Lempicka's work was out of favor for many years, it has recently enjoyed a new appreciation, ironically for those very qualities of decadence and hedonism that caused critics of the 1960s and 1970s to dismiss her.

Well as I said I may not know art but I know what I like and I love her works.  Check out my mini gallery of some of my favorites