Wednesday April 7, 1999

Announcements:

• none

• there is a transition from Goya's gentler, earlier works to later more sardonic works

• approximately 80 etchings
• cataloguing the evils of society
• illustrated evils for the purpose of public edification
• potential for human beings to improve their existence
• 2 examples
• "The Sleep of Reason"
• idea that the sleep of reason produces monsters
• in society, when reason/rationality is lost, society suffers
• "Until Death"
• haggard figure dressed as a young woman
• on the brink of death, but consumed by vanity, nonetheless
• young girl in background studying carefully or trying to suppress a laugh
• on-lookers find humor
• mixture of grotesque and humor (black humor)

• allegorical representation of Napoleon's campaign in Spain and its terror
• not inspired by mythology (like works by others), but invented by Goya
• no one is quite sure of Goya's meaning
• painted during French occupation
• individualized images
• brushy, impulsive style
• temperament reflected on canvas

• series of 85 etchings started during French occupation
• not published until 1863 due to their radical content
• almost cinematographic
• powerful anti-war messages
• 2 examples
• "What More Can Be Done?"
• scene of brutalization
• castration of victim
• unclear whether perpetrators are French or Spanish soldiers
• not important to Goya
• focus is the atrocity
• "They do not want to"
• young woman being raped by French soldier
• old woman protecting young woman with knife

• late work
• being aided by friend
• very personal, self critical, objective work
• menacing figures in the background

• painted directly on wall in Goya's home
• non-rational/internal reality
• surrealistic
• late work

• painted directly on the wall in Goya's home
• non-rational/internal reality
• freely-painted
• monstrous faces
• except young initiate
• Goya show that a painting need not be beautiful to be powerful

• Neo-classicism     vs.     Romanticism

• student of Guerin, who was in turn a student of David

    "The Massacre at Chios," Delacroix, 1822-24

• controversial
• massacres of Greeks by Turks in 1822
• contemporary subject
• French government remained neutral, but French intellectuals were sympathetic to the Greeks
• Romantic
• showcasing the underdogs
• though shows detail on the fancy uniform of the Turk militiaman
• intertwined, overlapping figures
• traumatized victims
• compare to Ingres' work
• measured, precise, inspired by Renaissance/Classical works (esp. Raphael)