Goya’s Graphic Imagination

Seated Giant
By 1818 (possibly 1814–18)

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, 1746–1828).

The Old Master Spanish painter Francisco Goya was also a printer and draftsman who produced about 900 drawings and 300 prints during his long career. The exhibition, Goya’s Graphic Imagination opening today at The Metropolitian Museum of Art explores his genius for daring artistic expression. Through his graphic work, he expressed his political liberalism, criticism of superstition, and distaste for intellectual oppression. The Met Museum has curated 100 works from the Late 18th and Early 19th century.

God save us from such a bitter fate
Ca. 1816–20
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, 1746–1828).

The exhibit of his drawings and prints mainly from The Met collection — with other works coming from New York, Boston, and Madrid’s Museo Nacional del Prado and the Biblioteca Nacional bear silent witness to the despair of war and poverty.

Plate 15 from The Disasters of War (Los Desastres de la Guerra): ‘And there is no help.’ (Y no hai remedio.) 1810

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, 1746–1828).

Goya became famous for his commissions and portraits of Spanish royalty and high society, most notably the thirteenth Duchess of Alba. Despite his brutal perceptions and lack of flattery in portraiture he rose to First Painter of the Court. Whether the mass crowd of a bullfight, circus or street life, his observations on The Peninsula War, The Hunger Year, the Enlightenment era and The Spanish Inquisition are reflected in his often absurd or macabre work.

Plate 12 from Los Caprichos: Out hunting for teeth (A caza de dientes.) 1799
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, 1746–1828).

He wrote satirical comments under his drawings to express his unique commentary on the turbulent social injustice and political upheaval in the world. His series of prints and aquatint etchings, The Disaster of War and Los Caprichos are on view. By the time Goya did this self portrait, he was stone deaf. He used his silence and artistry to continue sketches and journals that explore triumph over life’s limitations until his death in 1826.

Goya Self-portrait ca. 1796

Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, 1746–1828).

“Esteemed as one of the most significant European artists from any period, Goya was a tireless observer of humanity, a quality that is especially clear in his works on paper,” said Max Hollein, the Marina Kellen French Director of The Met. “This exhibition is an opportunity to further understand the critical role of drawings and prints as an outlet for the artist’s fertile imagination, allowing him to explore subjects that preoccupied him throughout his long life. As a social critic and witness to great turbulence, Goya created art that captured the many aspects of what it means to be human amid challenging times. In today’s complex and uncertain world, Goya’s work resonates powerfully.”

A Woman Sitting by a Stream Ca. 1812–20
Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, 1746–1828)

The exhibition is made possible by the Placido Arango Fund and Fundación María Cristina Masaveu Peterson. Goya’s Graphic Imagination at the Metropolitan Museum of Art runs February 12, 2021 through May 2, 2021 in New York City.
(Artwork courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)