Ancient Pastimes 1916

John William Godward probably painted this scene with oils on canvas around the turn of the century. The woman's yellow garment shimmers in the light. It’s caught my eye – the way it’s painted, thin and glazed, the brushwork almost invisible. Godward’s really thinking about surface here, how to make the cloth look luminous. I can imagine him, carefully layering those strokes to build up the color. Look at the statue looming in the background. I wonder if she is a muse for both Godward and the woman in orange. Perhaps this is a comment on the ways we draw inspiration from the past. The entire composition is serene and stylized, and there's a conversation happening across time. Godward is in dialog with classical art and the painting traditions that came before him, and we, as viewers, continue this exchange. Painting is a continuum, a way of thinking through making, each artist building on the ideas of those who came before.