Ethel Warwick (1882-1951) was an actress, who appeared on stage and later in film. She studied to become an artist at the London Polytechnic. She became an artist’s model for several artists to help pay her tuition and became a favoured model for Godward who painted several portraits of her.
This is a strikingly direct portrait of a fashionably dressed young woman. She then trained as an actress and first appeared on stage in 1900. In 1906 she married Edmund Waller, a young actor. The Wallers embarked on a worldwide tour with various plays. His father, Lewis Waller, was a well-known actor and theatre manager.
Godward was a Victorian Neo-Classicist and most of his paintings feature women in classical dress posed against classical landscapes. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1887-1905.
Godward was a talented artist in his depictions of classical beauty but his art became anachronistic. The Bloomsbury Group (1907-1930) denounced Victorian painting. Latterly, Godward exhibited his work in Europe.
When he moved to Italy with one of his models in 1912, his family severed contact with him. He committed suicide aged 61 and said in his suicide note: "the world is not big enough for myself and a Picasso". His estranged family, who had disapproved of his becoming an artist, were ashamed of his suicide and burned his papers.