Goya, and There's Nothing to Be Done (From the Disasters of War)
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Goya, And There’s Nothing to be Done (from The Disasters of War) Prahlad Sankrti, Per. 4 Context ▪ The Disasters of War were a series of 82 prints created by Goya between 1810 and 1820 ▪ Visual protest against French Empire’s occupation of Spain under Napoleon Bonaparte ▪ First 47 focus on Peninsular War (1807-1814) – its effects on individual soldiers and civilians ▪ Plates 48-64 show the results of the famine in Madrid in 1811-1812 ▪ Remaining prints show the disappointment of setbacks during the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy ▪ Goya was actually working as a court artist for King Joseph Bonaparte during this time Artist: Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes ▪ Born 1746 ▪ Spanish Romantic painter and printmaker, considered one of the best during his time ▪ Regarded as one of the last great Old Masters (pre-1800) and also one of the first modern painters ▪ Went deaf due to undiagnosed illness in 1793, his work became progressively darker and more pessimistic after this ▪ Director of the Royal Academy in 1795, Primer Pintor de Cámara in 1799 (then the highest rank for Spanish royal court painter) ▪ Lived through “Enlightened monarchy,” Napoleon’s invasion, and disappointments of the restoration of the Bourbon Monarchy ▪ Died 1828 Artistic Career ▪ Goya’s early work is lighter, in the Rococo style ▪ Portraits of Spanish aristocracy and royalty ▪ Tapestry cartoons ▪ Influenced by Velazquez when he painted La meja desnuda (1799) and Charles IV of Spain and His Family (1801) ▪ Middle period included The Disasters of War, Caprichos, and Los Disparates ▪ Later period included Black Paintings and La Tauromaquia La meja desnuda The Parasol Portrait of Charles VI and His Family Witches’ Sabbath This is Worse The Third of May 1808 (from The Disasters of War) Form ▪ 1810 ▪ Etching, drypoint, burin and burnisher ▪ 14 x 16.7 cm Content ▪ Man, blindfolded, off-kilter posture, Alter Christus ▪ In front of him is another man who we can infer was recently shot, blood & brain oozes out of his skull ▪ Men in the background on their knees, about to be executed ▪ Three rifles aimed at the main figure, Y no hai remedio caption Function ▪ Antiwar, tragic ▪ Goya largely kept his political views to himself during the time of French occupation since it was dangerous to be so critical publicly ▪ The Disasters of War published 35 years after Goya’s death in 1863, when people finally thought it safe to criticize the French and Bourbon Monarchy Significance ▪ While Goya was a renowned painter, his prints convey his social and political views more than his paintings ▪ Holds cultural meaning ▪ Influenced Picasso’s modernism, Dali’s surrealism, etc..