The Third of May 1808. Francisco Goya · Public domain · source

Francisco Goya

Public domain1746-1828·Spanish·painting·Wikipedia ↗

Who

Spanish painter and printmaker, court painter to the Bourbons, and the last of the old masters or the first of the moderns depending on who you ask. Went deaf after an illness in 1792-93; the work turned darker from there.

Why they matter

Four print series - Los Caprichos, The Disasters of War, La Tauromaquia and Los Disparates - are the foundation of modern printmaking as social commentary. The Black Paintings, painted directly on the walls of his house, anticipate Expressionism by a century.

What to buy

Originals: this is the rare old master you can own. The copper plates for the Caprichos and the Disasters survived and were reprinted by the Calcografia Nacional in numbered editions into the twentieth century. Those later impressions are genuine Goya etchings, priced from the hundreds to the low thousands depending on edition, and appear at Swann and on eBay. First edition (1799) Caprichos are another order of magnitude. Learn the editions before buying; Harris's catalogue is the reference. Books: Dover reprints the full Caprichos and Disasters cheaply.

Notes

The Prado holds the paintings, the Black Paintings and the largest print collection; its collection site has everything at high resolution.

Key works

The Third of May 1808 (1814) - Museo del Prado, Madrid
Saturn Devouring His Son (1820-1823) - Museo del Prado, Madrid
Los Caprichos (1799) - 80 etchings with aquatint
The Disasters of War (1810-1820, published 1863) - 82 etchings

Francisco Goya

Who

Why they matter

What to buy

Notes

Key works

In museum collections

See the work

Prints

Books

Originals

See also