The Favourite 1901

John William Godward created "The Favourite," with paint on canvas, and I imagine a very, very tiny brush. Everything in this painting feels incredibly smooth, like porcelain, particularly the woman’s skin and the cool marble of the bench. The lines are so clean and definite! It's like Godward wanted to trap the light, to stop it from moving. Look at the way the red of the dress pools around her, each fold distinct, and how this contrasts with the soft, blended fur of the cat. This is so different from Impressionism which was happening at the same time, but it does remind me a little of Ingres who was also obsessed with perfect lines. But where Ingres feels kind of cold, this has a certain warmth to it. Maybe that’s the cat.