The sweet siesta of a summer day (1891), was one of the early successes for the neo-classicist painter John William Godward (1861-1922), It was exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1891. Very much in the Alma-Tadema style, it is almost a pastiche of such paintings, with its languid girls in classical dresses, marble steps, a tiger skin, distant view of the Mediterranean, hanging vines etc. One of the girls is playing an aulos, as Godward tried to create a feeling of delicate flute music, Today, however, we know that the aulos was a martial instrument, used by the Spartan army and gave out a rather raucous buzzing sound not unlike a crumhorn. Not very restful!
It was painted in his London studio in Smith Street in Chelsea and I actually went to a party there, with my Chinese American girlfriend, back in the mid eighties. She later modelled for some nude pastels for me, I didn't know it had been Godward's studio at the time, though. Perhaps that is why I found her so inspiring!
Godward ran off to Italy with one of his models and his parents, never keen on his choice of profession in the first place, never spoke to him again and even cut his picture out of all the family photos. Depressed by the march of modernism he committed suicide in 1922 by gassing himself in his oven at home, leaving a note which said "the world is not big enough for myself and a Picasso"
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