Francisco de Goya
The court painter who depicted the horrors of war.
Goya was court painter in Spain but also depicted violence, madness and oppression. His late “Black Paintings” point forward to Expressionism.
Francisco de Goya was born in 1746 in the village of Fuendetodos in Aragon, Spain. His father was a gilder. Goya grew up in Zaragoza and received his first training there. He twice failed to win a scholarship at the academy in Madrid and went to Italy on his own. In 1773 he married Josefa Bayeu, sister of the court painter Francisco Bayeu, who helped him on in his career.
In Madrid Goya was commissioned to paint designs for tapestries for the royal palaces. These cartoons, now in the Prado, show popular festivities, games and picnics in light colours. He rose quickly, becoming court painter in 1786 and First Court Painter in 1799. Around 1793 he suffered a serious illness that left him completely deaf. After that his art grew darker and more personal. In 1799 he published the print series Los Caprichos, which mocks superstition, stupidity and the power of the Church.
Among his most important paintings are The Family of Charles IV (1800), a group portrait in which the royal family appears anything but glamorous, and The Nude Maja and The Clothed Maja. Napoleon's occupation of Spain in 1808 and the bloody war that followed affected him deeply. The Third of May 1808, painted in 1814, shows French soldiers executing Spanish civilians. The print series The Disasters of War depicts atrocities without heroes. It was published only after his death. All the paintings mentioned are in the Prado in Madrid.
Goya's technique was free and fast, with vigorous brushstrokes and strong contrasts of light and dark. He was also a master of etching and aquatint. Politically he was divided. He sympathised with the ideas of the Enlightenment while serving the royal house. In his later years he bought a house outside Madrid and painted the so-called Black Paintings directly on its walls, among them Saturn Devouring His Son. They were later transferred to canvas and are in the Prado.
In 1824 Goya left Spain, where reaction had once again taken power. He died in Bordeaux in 1828. He is often seen as the first modern artist. Manet, the Expressionists and Picasso were all influenced by him, and The Third of May became the model for many later images of war.