Francisco de la Goya is considered to be one of the most influential painters from Spain. He works from the 18th and 19th centuries influenced the art of the 20th century, “marking the beginning of the Contemporary painting period” ("Francisco De Goya Biography - Famous Spanish Painter | Don Quijote.", Online). Goya’s passion for painting began at a young age, and continued to grow as his knowledge grew. Over the years, his style began to change due to experiences, and this can be seen in his most famous works.
Francisco de la Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30th, 1746 in Fuendetodos, a small town in Spain. As a young child, he moved to Saragossa with his family, and began painting there. By 14, he was the apprentice to José Luzán Martínez and practiced his painting skills through imitation. In Madrid, Goya joined brothers Francisco and Ramón Bayeu y Subías in their shop, eventually marrying their sister, Josefa. To expand his knowledge further, Goya traveled to Italy in 1770 and studied classic artwork. He submitted his own work into competitions, and although the judges …show more content…
His first prints started out for the tapestry, but were too complex. The Blind Guitarist and Las Meninas (promised gifts) were two of these etching, and they displayed a more playful side of Goya’s art style (Voorhies, Online). However, after Goya went deaf, his style turned much darker. In 1799, he created a group of etchings called Los Caprichos (The Whims) depicting Spanish nobility. The most famous etching was ‘The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.’ Around 1810, Goya created The Disasters of War. These prints were extremely gruesome, displaying death and destruction, and showed his disagreement toward such outbreaks. In his late years, he painted The Black Paintings, which were frescoes along the walls of a small house that expressed horrifying, dark scenes (“Romanticism: Francisco De Goya”,