Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

born 30 March 1746, Fuendetodos, Spain died 16 April 1828, Bordeaux, France

Goya was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker, one of the most important European artists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  He lived through multiple political upheavals, and his work reflected the chaos and change in Spain’s political landscape. His political and social commentary, and his vivid portrayals of the horrors and aftermath of war, influenced artists across the world.

Goya worked hard to be recognized for his talents. He entered a drawing competition hosted by the Real Academia des Bellas Artes in San Fernando twice, and failed both times, but he didn’t give up. He finally got his big break when he joined the painting studio of Francisco and Ramón Bayeu y Subías, who organized a job for him designing tapestry cartoons for the royal palaces. After that, he became a court painter in 1786 and spent his early career painting portraits of the Spanish aristocracy. 

In 1792, Goya became very sick with a mysterious illness that left him permanently deaf and caused him great psychological distress. As he recovered from his illness, he started  to experiment with his artmaking techniques, and his work started to change. In 1799, he released a series of 80 etchings called the Caprichos. Instead of the portraits of the who’s-who in Madrid that he was known for, these prints featured witches, ghosts and other fantastical creatures. These images were a veiled critique of the outmoded ways of the superstitions and prejudices common in Spanish society, as well as the power of the Catholic Church and its persecution of thousands of people as heretics and witches.

The turn of the 19th century was a tense period in Spain. The French Revolution had resulted in the execution of the French king who was a close ally of his Spanish counterpart.  The new French ruler invaded Spain and those who resisted, including women and children, were brutally murdered. Goya was repulsed by the atrocities but continued to paint portraits of the French and Spanish leaders.  Two years after the invasion, however, he started working on a series of prints called Disasters of War. These prints were disturbing scenes of violence and death. It was only published in 1863, 35 years after Goya died, when it was politically safe to do so. 

Even after the French were defeated (with the help of the British army), the situation in Spain continued to deteriorate.  The new Spanish king was a tyrant, and many people died of hunger and disease. Goya spent more and more time in a house outside Madrid,the Quinta del Sordo (House of the Deaf Man). where he painted a series of murals in oil paint on the walls. Known as the Black Paintings (1819–1823), these works are troubling and difficult to interpret, and are today in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Goya left the country in self-imposed exile in 1824 for the French city of Bordeaux, continuing to paint and make prints until his death in April 1828 aged 82.

Since Goya’s death, his works have been the inspiration for many other artists all over the world. This exhibition explores their impact on the art of Africa in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.