Girl in Yellow Drapery 1901

John William Godward painted this drowsy Girl in Yellow Drapery, and I’m sort of in awe of what must have been the labor of it. Just look at the way that yellow paint translucently captures the light, the way it lies on her body! The light in the painting is so perfectly distributed. Did he put a screen up to diffuse it? You can feel the warm breeze coming off the ocean; she looks so relaxed. Maybe she’s been up all night dancing? I wonder if Godward ever felt envious of the Impressionists, with their dabs of color and plein air painting, versus the work he was doing in the studio, so precise, almost photographic. I like to think of painters across time, like Godward and the Impressionists, in conversation with one another through their artworks. It’s a reminder that painting is not just about technique; it’s about feeling and connection.