Goya in times of war at the Prado, Madrid

Goya en tiempos de guerra (Goya in times of war)
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
until 13 July 2008

Left: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid: the executions on Principe Pio hill, 1814
Oil on Canvas
268 cm x 347 cm

This must be the most comprehensive survey ever of the great master's ouevre, appropriately mounted at the museum that holds many of his greatest works. The 'pieces de resistance' are the two great canvases of the 2nd and 3rd of May 1808 (see 3rd May left) which have been cleaned and restored, however the exhibition is vast, and features almost 200 works by the artist, and is part of the program commemorating the bicentenary of the start of the Spanish War of Independence in 1808. It includes more than 65 paintings loaned from other institutions and private collections, including 'Majas on the Balcony' and 'Portrait of the Marchioness of Montehermoso', both from private collections; 'Friar Pedro de Zaldivia clubs Maragato the Bandit' from The Art Institute of Chicago; 'The Capture of Christ from Toledo Cathedral', and a group of nine works loaned by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid.

Brooding, bloody and pessimistic, Goya grapples with the dark heart of Spain. While LF doesn't warm to all Goya's painting, the etchings (and even better, studies on paper for the etchings) are a visual treat. Our absolute absolute standout painting is the small self-portrait painted late in his life (1815) - see left - an uncompromising masterpiece.

Postscript: Goya's Black brother - the Australian connection
Abstract of a paper presented by Professor Ian Howard (College of Fine Arts. University of New South Wales)
NORTH AND SOUTH – THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ANTON GOYA 1748-1828
'Art and re-enactment’ Conference, Australian National University, Canberra, 5-7 June 2007

Goya’s twin brother, Anton, was born black. In 1748 Spain this meant he was destined to an entirely different life than that of his famous artist sibling. Banished from the family home in Saragossa, at a young age he was shanghaied to a life at sea. In his early twenties he sailed with Cook into the Pacific, in his thirties he dumped tea into Boston Harbour. At 42 he fortuitously jumped ship from La Perouse’s Astrolabe at Botany Bay. Possessing in a rough sort of way, the artistic talents of his brother, he quickly established himself as the painter of Port Jackson which brought him unwanted attention, leading to an early return to the northern hemisphere. In Paris, turning fifty, he saw Louis XVI guillotined and Napoleon seize power. Returning to his native Spain, he was again dragooned to sea, this time with the combined French and Spanish fleet moored at Cadiz. At 59, he was the oldest sailor to survive the Battle of Trafalgar. At the subsequent Spanish uprising against the French, galvanised on the third of May, 1808, the twin brothers, now in their early sixties and unknown to each other, met briefly, for the first and only time.
Records of Anton Goya’s extraordinary life, led variously in each hemisphere of the globe between 1748 and 1828 is being pieced together from historical records and the extant art works he produced, which are now being uncovered, surprisingly, in China.
Although this presentation will concentrate on the emerging story of Anton’s life, it is anticipated that the final work will take the form of a narrative, an exhibition and video documentary.

Interesting or what?

Hasta luego