Francisco de Goya - Los Caprichos
Francisco de Goya
El Sueño de la Razón Produce Monstruos
Francisco de Goya can rightly be registered as one of the three geniuses in Spanish painting i.e. the third master along-side with El Greco and Velasquez. Francisco de Goya produced most of his masterpieces between the 1760s and 1828 and with his works of art he is already the forerunner of the trends and tendencies so typical of the 20th century and it is far from being surprising that he is considered to be the predecessor of modern trends in painting like expressionism and surrealism.
His paintings, etchings, drawings and his graphics can be characterised with their diversity both in their topics and artistic means. This richness in themes leads to a wide variety of topics ranging from joyful festivities through royal portraits to battle scenes and dead bodies. There is a marked shift in his choice of themes and this gradual change can be viewed as an accompanying phenomenon of his physical degradation since the great affliction in his life, his deafness, caused him to turn to themes depicting more and more gloom and despair. His general mood must have become darker and darker in the course of time as it is reflected in his pieces of art. On approaching the end of his life he painted frightening pictures about mad and sick people and about strange and freak figures. The style of these black paintings already shows the signs of expressionism.
Francisco de Goya created a series of eighty print sin 1799 with the title „Los Caprichos”. This series palpably demonstrates Goya’s views on the world and on the whole mankind.
This opinion of his is well-illustrated by Linda Simon’s lines quoted here. This series demonstrates „the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices with custom, ignorance, or self-interest have made usual” “Los Caprichos”
El Sueño de la Razón Produce Monstruos
Francisco de Goya can rightly be registered as one of the three geniuses in Spanish painting i.e. the third master along-side with El Greco and Velasquez. Francisco de Goya produced most of his masterpieces between the 1760s and 1828 and with his works of art he is already the forerunner of the trends and tendencies so typical of the 20th century and it is far from being surprising that he is considered to be the predecessor of modern trends in painting like expressionism and surrealism.
His paintings, etchings, drawings and his graphics can be characterised with their diversity both in their topics and artistic means. This richness in themes leads to a wide variety of topics ranging from joyful festivities through royal portraits to battle scenes and dead bodies. There is a marked shift in his choice of themes and this gradual change can be viewed as an accompanying phenomenon of his physical degradation since the great affliction in his life, his deafness, caused him to turn to themes depicting more and more gloom and despair. His general mood must have become darker and darker in the course of time as it is reflected in his pieces of art. On approaching the end of his life he painted frightening pictures about mad and sick people and about strange and freak figures. The style of these black paintings already shows the signs of expressionism.
Francisco de Goya created a series of eighty print sin 1799 with the title „Los Caprichos”. This series palpably demonstrates Goya’s views on the world and on the whole mankind.
This opinion of his is well-illustrated by Linda Simon’s lines quoted here. This series demonstrates „the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices with custom, ignorance, or self-interest have made usual” “Los Caprichos”
Bibliography: Mark, Williams, The Story of Spain. Málaga: Santana Books, 2009 (Links Retrieved: 27 April 2010): http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/g/goya/9g/91/43capric.html http://www.ackland.org/art/exhibitions/reasonfantasy/lrundquist1.htm http://www.dramairok.hu/data/files/1977/goya.pdf http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=12796 http://eeweems.com/goya/sleep_of_reason.html http://www.museum.cornell.edu/HFJ/Handbook/hb128.html The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, Alexander Nehamas, Representations, No. 74, Philosophies in Time (Spring, 2001) (http://www.jstor.org/pss/3176048) The Sleep of Reason, Linda Simon (www.worldandi.com)