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Exhibition
Details
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Goya: The Caprichos Etching and Aquatints
An
exhibition of eighty (80) etchings
For
many, Francisco José de Goya-Man of Aragon (1746-1828)
is thought of as the father of the Modern movement, and
it was his Caprichos prints that helped establish him as
one of the greatest artists of Spain and of Europe. His
Caprichos images came about like a dream at the age of 51,
as he depicts in one of his eighty prints in the series-the
labeled No. 43, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. In
his original drawing (now in the Prado Museum), Goya's face
can be seen in the mystic background (depicted in an accompanying
wall panel). The Caprichos, meaning impulsive fantasies,
permitted Goya an opportunity to explore creative freedoms
normally not accepted among the conventional conventions
of art in his time. The Caprichos prints depict human folly
as Goya saw it during the late 18th century in Spain-a period
in which his homeland was strongly influenced by the iron-hand
control of the Church and was often at odds with the French.
Because many of the images suggested specific references
that were recognizable to his contemporaries, he was forced
to withdraw their sale on the open market. Later the plates
were given to the Royal Institute of Printing in exchange
for a bursary for his son.
"There
are no saints (in Goya's work) . . . and no heroes either-only
mortals whose desires are all too clearly
defined to the petty vanities of the world."
--- Richard Schickel
The World of Goya
Time-Life Books
Through
the expression of free and enlightened thought in which
Goya so often did, he is credited with leading the way of
new artistic tendencies which were to come to culmination
in the 19th century. His works changed the way artists in
generations to come, would interpret the world. The Caprichos
prints (caprices fantasies) preceded the more monstrous
series of war images or his bullfight images and, although
they are dated much earlier (1799), they are considered
the most important of the three large series of prints he
produced. The other two being La tauromaquia [The art of
bull-fighting] (1814-1816), and Los desastres de la Guerra
[Disasters of War] (1810-20).
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