Francisco de Goya

Spain

He became first court painter of the Spanish king.

💡 Did you know? Goya rose from provincial painter to first court painter of the Spanish king: yet remained a sharp critic of power.

he became deaf

Around 1793 a severe illness left Goya completely deaf: his art grew darker and more inward afterwards.

💡 Did you know? Afterwards his art grew darker and turned inward.

The Third of May 1808

It shows defenceless people before a faceless firing squad.

💡 Did you know? „The Third of May 1808“ shows Spanish rebels shot by Napoleon's troops; an archetype of the anti-war painting that influenced Picasso among others.

Los Caprichos

In the 80 etchings of the „Caprichos,“ Goya mocked the superstition, clergy and nobility of the Spanish old order.

💡 Did you know? Famous is the plate "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters".

Black Paintings

These include the disturbing "Saturn Devouring His Son".

💡 Did you know? The old, deaf Goya painted the „Black Paintings“ straight onto the walls of his house, for himself alone, never exhibited.

first modern painter

He died in 1828 in exile in France.

💡 Did you know? With his free, unvarnished manner, Goya is seen by many as the bridge from the Old Masters to modern art.

La maja desnuda

Painted around 1795.

💡 Did you know? The frank nude brought Goya before the Spanish Inquisition: the sitter's identity stayed a secret.

The Third of May 1808

Around 1814: one of the most famous indictments of war.

💡 Did you know? The man with raised arms in the white shirt became an icon of the innocent victim.

Saturn Devouring His Son

From the "Black Paintings": a disturbing nightmare image.

💡 Did you know? The most disturbing of the „Black Paintings“ shows the god devouring his own child for fear of being overthrown.

Charles IV of Spain and His Family

Painted around 1800.

💡 Did you know? Goya painted the royal family mercilessly unflattering: some see hidden mockery in it.

Black Paintings

Painted around 1820.

💡 Did you know? Only after Goya's death were the 14 wall paintings removed and transferred to canvas.

The Clothed Maja

Painted around 1800.

💡 Did you know? Goya painted the same pose twice: clothed and nude; one supposedly hung hidden behind the other.

The Disasters of War

Painted around 1810.

💡 Did you know? The unsparing prints of the horrors of war were published only 35 years after Goya's death.

Caprichos

Painted around 1799.

💡 Did you know? For fear of the Inquisition, Goya withdrew the series from sale shortly after it appeared.

The Second of May 1808

Painted around 1814.

💡 Did you know? The picture shows Madrid's street battle against Napoleon's Mameluke cavalry: the prelude to „The Third of May.“

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Painted around 1797.

💡 Did you know? The most famous plate of the „Caprichos“: when reason sleeps, owls and bats awaken.

The Dog

Painted around 1819.

💡 Did you know? A tiny dog's head before a vast emptiness: the most enigmatic „Black Painting,“ hailed by modernism as proto-abstract.

Witches' Sabbath

Painted around 1820.

💡 Did you know? A goat as the devil amid shrieking witches: Goya's bitter reckoning with superstition.

Francisco de Goya

Francisco de Goya (1746 to 1828) was a Spanish painter and printmaker who went from court painter to unsparing chronicler of war and the darkness of the human soul.

💡 Did you know? Goya straddles two worlds: courtly grand portraits and dark nightmare images; to many he is both the last Old Master and the first modern artist.