Eastman Johnson

"John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn" Eastman Johnson, Prominent Gentleman Portrait

1883

Louis Betts The Guitarist, circa 1920 Signed upper left Oil on canvas 27 x 18 inches Louis L. Betts was a painter active in the first half of the twentieth century in the United St...

Julian Alden Weir Study of a Girl Oil on canvas 7 x 6 inches The youngest of sixteen children of Robert W. Weir, artist and art instructor at West Point Military Academy, J. Alden ...

Herbert Gustave Schmalz Anyone for Croquet, circa 1898 Signed lower right Oil on canvas 47 5/8 x 31 3/4 inches Provenance Anthony Mitchell, Nottingham Burlington Gallery Ltd., Londo...

Lilian Westcott Hale Portrait of a Lady (Study for Harriet Blake) Oil on canvas 40 ¼ x 30 ¼ inches A leading American Impressionist working at t...

John Falter arranges figures and faces in a way that rival the old masters in their compositional perfection. And he makes it look easy. The expressions are captured so the emotions of the story come alive. This Golden Age of illustration artist depicts fathers and children watching...

William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1825-1905 French La fille du pêcheur (The Fisherman’s Daughter) Signed and dated “W-Bouguereau-1882” (middle right) Oil on canvas William Bouguereau's...

"The Painter's Studio", oil on canvas, 39x27.5in / 100x70cm The artist's studio and art objects part of artist' life and work. A sculpture, an antique head and a painting that remin...

John William Godward 1861-1922 British A Pompeian Lady Signed and dated "J.W. Godward 1904" (lower right, partially covered by frame) Oil on canvas One of the last and greatest Victorian neoclassical painters, John William Godward is celebrated for his flawlessly executed images of graceful women posed in idealized ancient settings. In this work, entitled A Pompeian Lady, a classical beauty is caught idling in a moment of quiet, solitary reflection. Godward's elegant subjects are depicted with a degree of technical mastery that remains unsurpassed, and the work's dramatic palette, luxurious fabrics and classical vision are all characteristics of his unique take on the neoclassical style. Godward was unmatched in terms of his technical skill and attention to detail. A master of contrasting textures, he paints a diaphanous gown draping against the model’s smooth, milky white skin, which sits against the painstakingly rendered individual hairs of a tiger’s pel. Scintillating color permeates the canvas as well, energizing the otherwise static scene. Each element is given careful attention, and the overall effect is one of both immaculate technique and sensual tactility. Along with his contemporary and mentor, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Godward set the tone for the Victorian neoclassicist movement. He built his career upon creating images of idealized feminine beauty infused with a Greco-Roman-inspired style. Though greatly influenced by Alma-Tadema, Godward distinguished himself through his predilection for the solitary female figure. His fame rose dramatically in the first few years of the 20th century, when the present work was completed, due to the burgeoning strength of the British Empire and the Victorian society’s preoccupation with ancient Rome. To many of the newly affluent, Roman society was, as Iain Gale writes, “a flawless mirror of their own immaculate world.” The sensuality and mystery of Godward’s maidens, combined with his impressive antique backdrops...