Exhibition Details

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 -- which he labeled 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 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."

           Through the expression of free and enlightened thought, Goya is credited for 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 were La tauromaquia [The art of bull-fighting] (1814-1816) and Los desastres de la Guerra [Disasters of War] (1810-20).

William Feasley, Spanish Guitar: Echoes of Goya Concert Booking Information Live Concerts & CD's Available