Dolce Far Niente (1879) | John William Waterhouse | Painting Art Print | Wall Frame

Reclining and facing the light, a lone woman plucks feathers from a fan and watches them float in the air. She seems completely removed from everyday life, yet in this languid state there is a sense of beauty emphasised by the sunflowers, the decorative rug, cushions and curtain, and the warm tone of the painting. The Italian phrase dolce far niente means ‘the sweetness of doing nothing’—the pleasure of being idle and blissfully lazy. Painters of the Aesthetic movement, as Peter Trippi points out, favoured the theme of idleness because it ‘liberated them from illustrating narratives and pointing to morals, seeking only beauty through harmonious arrangements of form, line and colour’.

Dolce far niente 1879 presents a stylistic change for Waterhouse. Despite the muted, antiquarian setting in this work—hinted at by the white mottled wall and the oil lamp that hangs before it—the painting appears fresh and modern. Waterhouse experiments with the effects of sunlight on his figure; his use of short brushstrokes adds texture to the painting and is particularly effective in capturing the contrast between the three floating feathers and the  white wall.

Our professionally remastered artwork comes in two variations:

1 .Matte: 12 X 18 inch high definition quality print -  300 gsm Matte Finish Art Paper Rolled in a Shipping Tube.

2. Frame: 14 X 20 inch finest quality photo frame -  Golden/Black Frame Finish.