John william godward biography examples

Biography of John William Godward

John William Godward was an English neoclassical and Pre-Raphaelite artist. Born on August 9, 1861, in Wimbledon, he came from a respectable and well-off Victorian family. He was the eldest of five children. While his father, a bank employee, believed that his sons should pursue stable and respectable professions in insurance or banking, John began attending evening classes at a local art school under the guidance of artist, architect, and designer William Hoffa Wontner. Godward studied with Wontner in the evenings from 1879 to 1881, during which time he mastered the art of drawing perspective and architectural elements.

It is known that John Godward received his education at Clapham School of Art. His first work, "The Yellow Turban," exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1887, received favorable reviews from critics. From 1888, Godward's paintings were sold in galleries and regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy until 1905. However, his family's reluctance to accept his passion for painting led to a rift, and in 1889, he moved to Chelsea, where he rented a single-story house. In 1894, Godward acquired his own spacious studio, which he decorated inside like an ancient Roman building, with pergolas and fountains in the garden.

In 1912, Godward left England and moved to Rome. It is believed that he left London in pursuit of one of his Italian models, an act that his mother never forgave him for. Godward lived in a studio on Monte Parioli near the main entrance of Villa Borghese. In 1919, he returned to England. The last years of Godward's life were plagued by harassment from English critics. At the age of 61, he took his own life, leaving behind the note "The world was not big enough for both me and Picasso." His family was so angered by his action that they burned all his papers, and as a result, no photographs of him are available. He was buried at Brompton Cemetery.