ART & ARTISTS: Francisco de Goya

Francisco de Goya was a Spanish artist widely considered one of the most important painters of the Romantic period. The artist took on a wide array of subject matter, including self-portraiture, fantasy scenes, landscapes, and still lifes. “Painting, like poetry, selects in the universe whatever she deems most appropriate to her ends,” he once explained. Born Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes in the town of Fuendetodos, Spain on March 30, 1746, he began studying art under the painter Jose Luzán at the age of 14. During the 1770s, Goya produced works such as The Parasol (1777), which meld the unlikely pairing of cheery Rococo aesthetics with the moody works of Diego Velázquez.

The artist became the court painter of Charles III of Spain in 1786, and continued painting for the Spanish court until Napoleons invasion of Spain in 1808. During the Napoleonic wars, Goya’s palette significantly darkened as he produced some of his most famous works. Among these paintings are the The Second of May 1808 (1814) and The Third of May 1808 (1814), which show the terrors of war. Three years before he left his native country, Goya produced 14 paintings directly onto the plaster walls of his farmhouse. These works, collectively known as The Black Paintings (1821), depicted terrifying supernatural themes and heinous violence.

Living in exile in Bordeaux, France, the artist died on April 16, 1828. His works went on to have a profound influence on both Édouard Manet and Pablo Picasso. Today, Goya’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Prado Museum in Madrid, and the Louvre Museum in Paris, among others.

This is part 9 of a 10-part series on the works of Francisco de Goya.

The Art of Bullfighting continued from part 8:

Plate 19. Another madness of his in the same ring
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.5 x 35.3 cm (plate)

Plate 20. The Agility and Audacity of Juanito Apinani in the ring at Madrid
etching and aquatint on ivory laid paper 24.6 x 35.5 cm (plate)

Plate 21. Dreadful events in the front rows of the ring at Madrid, and death of the mayor of Torrejón
etching, burnished aquatint, lavis, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.7 x 35.5 cm (plate)

Plate 22. Manly courage of the celebrated Pajuelera in the ring at Saragossa
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 25.2 x 35.3 cm (plate)

Plate 23. Mariano Ceballos, alias the Indian, kills the bull from his horse
etching and burnished aquatint on ivory laid paper
25 x 35.2 cm (plate)

Plate 24. The Same Ceballos, Mounted on Another Bull, Breaks Short Spears in the Ring at Madrid
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.5 x 35.5 cm (plate)

Plate 26. A Picador is Unhorsed and Falls under the Bull
etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint on ivory laid paper 24.5 x 35.3 cm (plate)

Plate 27 The Celebrated Picador, Fernando del Toro, Draws the Fierce Beast on with His Pique
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.5 x 35.2 cm (plate)

Plate 28. The Forceful Rendón Stabs a Bull with the Pique, from which Pass He Died in the Ring at Madrid
etching, burnished aquatint and burin on ivory laid paper
25 x 35.2 cm (plate)

Plate 29. Pepe Illo making the pass of the ‘recorte’
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.4 x 35.2 cm (plate)

Plate 30. Pedro Romero killing the halted bull
etching, aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper
24.8 x 35.5 cm (plate)

Plate 31. Banderillas with firecrackers
etching, burnished aquatint, lavis, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.5 x 35.3 cm (plate)

Plate 32. Two teams of Picadors thrown one after the other by a single bull
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.4 x 35.2 cm (plate)

Plate 33. The Unlucky Death of Pepe Illo in the Ring at Madrid
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory laid paper 24.7 x 35.5 cm (plate)

1815-24 Los Proverbios (The Proverbs)

Four decades after the artist’s death, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts acquired 18 intaglio plates from an unfinished series by Goya. In an attempt to ascribe a theme to their enigmatic imagery, the prints were published with the title Los Proverbios (Proverbs). A handful of early trial proofs were later discovered on which the artist had inscribed Disparate, which roughly translates as folly, nonsense, absurdity, or fantasy.

Plate 1. Heavier than a Dead Donkey
etching and aquatint, with scratches, in brown on ivory wove paper 24.5 x 35.5 cm (plate)

Plate 2. Folly of Fear
etching and aquatint 24.5 x 35 cm

Plate 3. To Go Amongst the Branches
i.e. to talk through one’s hat
etching, aquatint, and drypoint on ivory wove paper
24.4 x 35.2 cm (plate)

Plate 4. Dancing Giant
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint 26.6 x 37 cm

Plate 5. Renounce the Friend Who Covers You with His Wings and Bites You with His Beak
etching and aquatint on ivory wove paper 24.5 x 35.3 cm (plate)

Plate 6. It is Amazing - and We were Made by God
etching and burnished aquatint on ivory wove paper
24.5 x 35.4 cm (plate)

Plate 7. Matrimonial Folly
etching and aquatint
(size not found)

Plate 8. There is Something Beneath the Sackcloth,
i.e. you can’t judge a man by his clothes
etching and burnished aquatint on ivory wove paper
24.5 x 35.2 cm (plate)

Plate 9. General Folly
etching and burnished aquatint printed in sepia ink on ivory wove paper 24.5 x 35.5 cm (plate)

Plate 10. A Woman and a Horse, Let Someone Else Master Them
etching with aquatint and drypoint in black on ivory wove paper 24.4 x 35 cm

Plate 11. Poor Folly
etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burin on ivory wove paper 24.5 x 35 cm (plate)

Plate 12. Merry Folly
etching, burnished aquatint, and drypoint in brown-black
24.4 x 35.3 cm

Plate 13. A Way of Flying
etching and aquatint in brown-black on ivory wove paper
24.5 x 35.4 cm (plate)

Plate 14. Rejoice, Carnival, for Tomorrow Thou wilt Be Ashes
etching and aquatint printed in sepia ink on ivory wove paper
24.5 x 35.8 cm (plate)

Plate 15. Without commending himself either to God or the devil
etching, burnished aquatint and lavis printed in sepia ink on ivory wove paper 24.6 x 35.5 cm (plate)