Goya in the Metropolitan Museum Ofart / Colta Ives and Susan Alyson Stein
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Coya in The Metropolitan Museum ifArt { { . Coya in The Metropolitan Museum ifArt Colta Ives and Susan Alyson Stein THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART NEW YORK This publication is issued in conjunction with an exhibition held at The Metropolitan Museum ofArt, NewYork, September I2-December 3I, 1995 The exhibition is made possible by QOYAFOODS Published by The Metropolitan Museum ofArt, New York Copyright © 1995 by The Metropolitan Museum ofArt, New York All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. John P. O'Neill, Editor in Chief Barbara Burn, Executive Editor Margaret Aspinwall, Editor Tsang Seymour Design Studio, Designer Matthew Pimm and Rich Bonk, Production Robert Weisberg, Computer Specialist All photographs are by the Photograph Studio, The Metropolitan Museum ofArt, except figs. ro, 32, and 42, which were supplied by the owners ofthe paintings. Printed by Meridian Printing Company, East Greenwich, Rhode Island Cover: Detail of Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga (see fig. I). The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 (49.7.41) Frontispiece: Self-Portrait, ca. 1795-1800. Brush and gray wash; 152 x 91 mm. Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935 (35.ro3.1) Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Metropolitan Museum ofArt (NewYork, N.Y) Goya in the Metropolitan Museum ofArt / Colta Ives and Susan Alyson Stein. p. cm. Exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum ofArt, New York, September 12-December 31, 1995. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-87099-752-1 (alk. paper) 1. Goya, Francisco, 1746-1828-Exhibitions. 2. Metropolitan Museum ofArt (NewYork, N.Y)-Exhibitions. I. Ives, Colta Feller. II. Stein, Susan Alyson. III.Title. N7II3·G68A4 1995 760'.092--dc20 95-2 42 0 0 CIP Contents Foreword by Philippe de Montebello 7 Preface and Acknowledgments 8 GOYA IN THE METROPOLITAN: The Artist and His Tf'orks by Colta Ives 11 GOYA IN THE METROPOLITAN: A History of the Collection by Susan Alyson Stein 34 Majas on a Balcony: Is the Museum 5 Painting by Coya? 64 Checklist of the Museum 5 Paintings) Drawings) and Prints by Coya 67 Museum Exhibitions and Publications of Coya 5 VVorks 77 Selected Bibliography 80 Sponsor's Statement Goya Foods is proud to sponsor the exhibition of Our participation with the Metropolitan the work of Francisco de Goya in The Metropolitan Museum is, in a sense, a coming together offine art Museum ofArt. and the culinary arts-both of our institutions share As our company celebrates its 60th Anniversary an appreciation for quality and beauty. in 1996, we are as committed as ever to supporting Just as we have provided nearly one thousand community events that reinforce our rich Hispanic fine food products to America's dinner tables since heritage, and take great pride in the knowledge that 1936, we are glad to make possible the Goya exhibi this stunning exhibition will be seen by thousands of tion as a visual feast to be savored and celebrated. visitors. jBuen provecho! We are equally delighted that by supporting the works ofone of the world's greatest artists, we are Joseph A. Unanue also paying homage to the homeland of my parents, President and CEO Carolina and Prudencio, the founders of Goya Foods. QOYAFOODS 6 Foreword "Goya in The Metropolitan Museum ofArt" reintro been significantly enlarged in number and revised by duces Francisco de Goya y Lucientes to our visitors scholarship. Many will no doubt be surprised at the through the Metropolitan's own collection, which richness of the Metropolitan's holdings, at the insti includes a fine group of paintings and a high num tution's long-standing interest in the artist's works, ber of outstanding drawings and prints. Our intent is and at the current controversies surrounding the to show the breadth of Goya's creative genius and at authenticity oflong-accepted paintings. the same time to reveal the strength and depth of This exhibition and catalogue of Goya's work the Museum's collection. illustrate the practice of connoisseurship at the This exhibition is one in a series of efforts to Metropolitan, and in them the visitor and reader will explore particularly rich veins of material in the find an approach that stresses issues of discernment Museum in which the work of one outstanding and quality and puts a premium on the direct exam artist can be examined across a broad range of media ination of the works of art. A high point of the exhi including painting, drawing, printmaking, sometimes bition is the unique opportunity offered us by the sculpture, and even photography. Such past projects generosity of an anonymous collector to compare his have featured the achievements of Greuze, Ingres, Majas on a Balcony, an unquestioned masterpiece by Delacroix, Degas, and Eakins; in the future, exhibi Goya, with the Metropolitan's version from the tions will be devoted to our varied holdings of work Havemeyer collection, a famous picture about whose by Rembrandt, Giandomenico Tiepolo, Winslow authorship questions have recently been raised. Homer, and Toulouse-Lautrec. The exhibition is made possible by financial sup As it stands today, the Metropolitan's exceptional port from Goya Foods, and we greatly appreciate collection ofworks by Goya is very much an aggre their backing for this endeavor. gate of the tastes, judgments, and prerogatives of Finally, I am grateful to Colta Ives and Susan many individuals. It was almost fully formed as early Stein for their valuable contributions to this exhibi as 1936, when the Museum held its first Goya exhi tion and catalogue, which place our collection in bition assembled mostly from its own holdings. the context of Goya's career and of the Museum's While since then four drawings, including two self history. portraits, and some working proofs ofprints have been added, it is in the paintings representation, as Philippe de Montebello noted in Susan Stein's essay, that the collection has Director 7 Preface and Acknowledgments This publication is intended to serve as an introduction seen as the natural outgrowth of inquiries raised dur to the Metropolitan Museum's extensive holdings of ing preparations for the relatively recent exhibitions paintings, drawings, and prints by Francisco de Goya y "Goya and the Spirit ofEnlightenment" (1989) and Lucientes (1746-1828), which will be placed on view "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection" (1993). in their entirety for the first time this fall. Although Aside from the pleasure and general appreciation the collection includes some of the Museum's best gained in viewing many works by a single great known and beloved paintings-from the "little boy artist, such efforts allow a close examination of our in red" to the now-contested Majas on a Balcony-its holdings in light of new research. The degree of real strength lies in its relatively hidden assets, the advancement in our knowledge and understanding of fragile works on paper that present the full sweep of an artist's oeuvre necessarily varies, and development the artist's prolific and many-sided genius. Indeed, in some cases may yet be in nascent stages. This is true the Museum's fine drawings and prints by Goya per with Goya, a towering but enigmatic figure, whose mit us to document the range and power of his pro most important paintings remain, largely, in Spain. duction in the chronological format of the exhibition, Goya's reputation traveled far and wide on the and also in the survey of his career, which is the first wings of his published graphic works, which were of this publication's essays. The second essay presents multiple, portable, and easily acquired; this accounts a history of the Museum's activity as a collector of for their fame. On the other hand, the limited avail Goya's work and helps to explain the relative strengths ability of authentic paintings by Goya outside his and weaknesses ofour holdings ofpaintings, drawings, native land has made the collecting of his oils much and prints, each of these three distinct areas having more problematic and, as is pointed out in the pages been formed under different circumstances. that follow, fraught with controversy. As the collection has evolved, so too have notions of In recent years, Goya's art has come under rigor Goya's achievement. Insofar as this historical perspec ous scrutiny. Owing to research on all fronts-tech tive provides a framework for understanding current nical, historical, archival, and iconographical-new reappraisals of Goya's art, it also reveals the Museum's information has come to light that has challenged long-standing commitment to the artist, one that makes former assumptions and prompted reassessment. Even this exhibition appropriate among celebrations of the famous, long-accepted works, like the Museum's I25th anniversary of this institution's founding. Majas on a Balcony, have been cast into doubt, and The idea for the project was initiated earlier this opinions regarding the authenticity of other paintings year by Director Philippe de Montebello. It may be fluctuate, seemingly, from day to day. It is the aim of 8 our exhibition to throw open the doors to new Anne M. P. Norton, who contributed her insights insights and revisions as we survey a cross section of and extensive knowledge of Goya's paintings; and Goya's splendidly ingenious production. Margaret Aspinwall, Senior Editor, and other members The knowledge and expertise of scholars long of the office ofJohn P. O'Neill, Editor in Chief. devoted to the study of Goya have provided the Patrick Seymour is responsible for the handsome essential structure and content for the realization of design of the publication.