#6: The First of the Moderns

Francisco Goya is the Spanish painter famous for his gory and realistic war scenes. According to http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/goya/ 's "Goya y Lucientes, Francisco José de," although he was the royal court painter, his famous works were NOT his royal paintings. Instead, violent and horrific scenes from the famous Napoleonic invasion of Spain was depicted. An example, is the painting we viewed in class entitled "The Disasters of War" or "Los desastres de la guerra." It was an etching depicting the atrocities of the French occupation of Spain. It highlighted the dark side of human nature when the French mercilessly shot men, women, and children. In his painting, Goya sought to show the impact of modern technology realistically, instead of the traditional romantic idealization. Such paintings shocked 19th century audiences for their portrayal of bold and haunting realism.

It is interesting to learn about how life drove him to painting the famous war paintings. He was born in 1746 in Fuendetodos, Spain. He first became reputable for his artistic abilities in the frescoes he painted for the local cathedral. He painted in the rococo tradition which came to France, after the Baroque Art. After some research pertaining to this art style, I can conclude that it is a light, elaborate and decorative art, according to www.artcyclopedia.com/history/rococo.html article entitled "Artists by Movement: Rococo Art."

He developed his art when he became a tapestry designer and painted his first GENRE paintings. In class, we learned genre paintings are realistically depicted scenes from everyday life.

He changed his art style after he became permanantly deaf from a severe illness. He began to critically study and observe humankind. In fact, he established CAPRICHOS, a book of etchings illustrating the results of these observations. I wanted to explore the contents of "Caprichos" and found http://goya.unizar.es/InfoGoya/Work/Caprichos.html which displays the 80 painting collection. In general, the etches mock the absurdities and weakenesses of human beings. She leaves him penniless, Sleep overcomes them, Squealers, Pretty teacher are only a few titles from the collection which is worth looking into.

He served as the Spanish court painter and later during the Napoleonic invasion, as the French court painter. But none of his war paintings were published until after his death.

With the independence of Spain from France, Goya left the French court. However, his paintings were not appreciated in Spain. For "The Naked Maja," he needed to explain his integration of a nude- an unacceptable element in art at the time. He was not the first and only painter who faced opposition from society for painting naked individuals. "Luncheon on the Grass," a work by Eduoard Manet featured a naked woman, which was presented in class, was viewed as unconventional as well as vulgar.

The Black Paintings, were a series of paintings illustrated on the walls of Goya's walls that were very dark and disturbing. An example of such a painting is found at the bottom of the website, where a small collection of Goya's famous paintings are situated. "Saturn Devouring his Son" shows an angry and ghastly creature eating a bleeding and naked baby whose head and arm are already gone. This painting is most disturbing indeed and shows us a glimpse into Goya's dark visions. Goya is retelling the story of the god, Saturn, who was forced to eat all his children after he learned that one of them will kill him. These paintings that depict his darkest visions, give the viewer a unique experience. They portray unconventional, uncomfortable and sinister images that exposes the viewer to something new and something strange. In my opinion, they contribute to Goya's entire artistic oeuvre. Such paintings offer audiences a glimpse into the author's sorrowful and twisted mental state. Audiences are transported into the author's world where they have the opportunity to experience this dark mental state.

The other paintings shown below feature royalty during which were created when Goya was a royal painter. Others portray historical events of war events, like "The Shootings of May Third," painted in direct realism.