Biography and creativity of Francisco Goya, Spanish artist and engraver, is outlined in this article. He was one of the first and most prominent masters of fine art of the Romantic era.

Francisco de Goya biography briefly

Francisco Goya was born March 30, 1746 in the small village of Fuen Detodos, near Zaragoza, in the family of a master gilder. He studied in Zaragoza, and in 1769 he went to Italy to study.

In 1771, Francisco received the second prize from the Papal Academy of Arts for his painting on an ancient theme. After the prize, he returns to Zaragoza, where he begins to paint frescoes. Around 1773, Goya lives in Madrid.

During these years, the artist received an order for 60 panels for the tapestries of the royal manufactory, on which he depicted colorful scenes from everyday life and folk entertainment. The panel included such paintings as:

• "Umbrella", 1777;
• "The Crockery Seller", 1778;
• "Madrid Market", 1778;
• "The Game of Pelota", 1779;
• "Young Bull", 1780;
• "The Wounded Mason", 1786;
• "The Game of Blind Man's Bluff", 1791.

In the early 80s of the 18th century, Francisco became a popular portrait painter. His first work was a portrait of the Count of Floridablanca, painted in 1782-1783. Next were “The Family of the Duke of Osuna”, 1787 and “Portrait of the Marquise Anna Pontejos”, created in 1787

In 1780 he was elected to the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1786 he was appointed court painter.

The autumn of 1792 was especially difficult for the artist - he became deaf, but did not give up his work. At the end of the 18th century - early XIX century, the time has come for the heyday of the portrait painter’s creativity:

• portraits of Senora Bermudez, 1796;
• portrait of F. Bayeu, 1796;
• portrait of F. Savasa Garspa, 1805;
• "La Tirana", 1799;
• portrait of Doctor Peral, 1796;
• portrait of F. Guillemarde, 1798;
• Isabel Covos de Porcel, 1806.

During the period of occupation by the troops of Napoleon I of Spain, Goya painted deep patriotic paintings - “The Uprising of May 2, 1808 in Madrid,” “Execution of the Rebels on the Night of May 3, 1808,” and “Disasters of War.”

Goya Francisco

Goya. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes(Francisco Jose de Goya) 1746-1828 - Spanish artist and engraver, one of the first and most prominent masters of fine art of the Romantic era. Goya was a very prolific artist, noticed even in his youth. His colossal diligence allowed him to work until he was very old, and during his life he left us many beautiful works. The accuracy of his portraits allows us to see the appearance of the Spanish nobility and the artist’s view of a number of historical events.

Goya is distinguished by his bold artistic innovation from supporters of academicism. Constant interest in the grotesque, the creation of etchings ridiculing social and religious orders in society.

Throughout his life, Francisco Goya was recognized in high society for his talent and hard work. Constantly enjoys the patronage of representatives of the most noble families in Spain. Although in his youth he received a superficial education (Goya will always write with errors). His fruitful creativity throughout his long life, constant pursuit of knowledge and self-improvement continued until his late old age (despite illness), providing a clear example of the boundless diligence of a talented person.

Paintings by Francisco de Goya:

Biography of Francisco Goya:

1746 Francisco Goya was born in Zarogosa, into a middle-class family. After the birth, the family moved to the rural province near Zarogosa, and lived there until 1760. In Zaragoza, young Francisco was sent to the workshop of the artist Luzana y Martinez.

In 1763 he took part in a competition for the best copy of Silenus in plaster, but his work did not receive recognition.

In 1764 he tried unsuccessfully to enter the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid.

In 1766 Goya travels to Madrid and again participates in the competition to enter the Academy of San Fernando, but again fails. In Madrid, Goya studied with the court artists, studying their works. In the same year, Francisco Goya moved to Rome.

In 1771 he took part in the competition of the Parma Academy for a painting by antique theme. At the competition, his work is noticed, and he receives the second prize from the Parma Academy of Fine Arts. Goya returns to Zaragoza and the Church of Del Pilar commissions Francisco Goya to complete sketches for the chapel by the architect Ventura Rodriguez and commissions him to do a trial painting. Goya's work is admired by the college of priests.

1772 Goya is invited to paint the oratorio of the Sobradiel Palace. Receives the patronage of Ramona Pignatelli.

1772-1774 he was invited to the Carthusian monastery of Aula Dei (near Zaragoza) and created 11 large compositions on themes from the life of the Holy Virgin Mary.

In 1773, Goya had to marry Josefa (due to her pregnancy), sister of Francisco Bayeu (court artist to King Charles IV and Queen Maria Luisa). The born son soon died. In total, Goya and Josepha had 5 children, but only one son survived (Francisco Javier Pedro), who also became an artist. Having achieved recognition by the aristocracy (with the help of Francisco Bayeu), Francisco Goya lost interest in his wife, but still remained married to Josefa until her death in 1812.

In 1775 Goya moved to Madrid to Francisco Bayeu and worked in his workshop. In the same year, Goya received the first court commission for hunting scenes in the Escorial Palace for the Prince of Asturias (the future Charles IV).

In 1778 Francisco engraves paintings by Diego Velazquez in the royal palace in Madrid.

In 1779, the artist presented 4 of his paintings to the king. And soon, Goya is already applying for the position of court artist, but is refused (due to the protests of his brother-in-law Francisco Bayeu). By that time, Goya was already a wealthy artist.

In 1780 Goya signs a contract to paint the dome of the Cathedral del Pilar. This contract ultimately leads to conflict between Francisco and his brother-in-law (whom he is forced to obey in this project). The Council of Priests becomes embroiled in the conflict and forces Goya to submit to Francisco Bayeu's demands. Because of resentment, Goya did not return to his native Zaragoza for a long time.

In 1781 Goya, along with Francisco Bayeu and Maella, painted the Church of St. Francis the Great in Madrid. He writes “The Sermon of St. Bernardine of Siena in the presence of the King of Aragon” and there Goya depicted himself to the left of the saint.

In 1783 he painted a portrait of the Count of Floridablanca.

In 1784 in Arenas de San Pedro, he paints the younger brother of the king, the Infante Don Luis, his wife Maria Teresa Vallabriga and their architect Ventura Rodriguez.

In 1785 Goya met the family of the Marquis de Penafel, who would be his regular customers for 30 years.

In 1785 he became vice-director of the Royal Academy.

In 1786 Goya was appointed royal artist and received an order for a series of paintings for the royal dining room in the Pardo Palace. The most notable works in this series are “Spring” (“Flower Girls”), “Summer” (“Harvest”) and “Winter” (“Blizzard”). Later, Goya painted portraits of Count Altamira and King Charles III.

In 1789, Charles III died, and Goya became the court artist of Charles IV (and in 1799, his first painter).

In 1789 Goya has no orders due to the events of the French Revolution. The Spanish court lost interest in decorating palaces. The fear of revolution causes persecution of the educated people of Spain, which includes Francisco Goya. In July 1790, he was sent to Valencia, but soon returned to Madrid, where he regained his previous position in court intrigues. But there are still not many orders.

In 1793, Goya was seriously ill (the documents did not preserve the diagnosis), he was struck by paralysis and hearing loss.

In 1795 Goya created a portrait of the Duke of Alba and his wife. There were rumors about the mutual passion of Goya and the Duchess of Alba, but there was no direct confirmation of them. In the painted portraits of Alba, only hints of a possible connection can be found. Goya also has drawings of the Duchess of Alba (very caustic). There is also a small painting where Goya depicted Alba and her duenna in a free everyday scene.

In July 1795, Goya's brother-in-law Francisco Bayeu (to whom he owes the start of his career) dies. In the same year, Francisco Goya was elected director of the painting department at the Academy of San Fernando and received a good salary.

1796 Goya traveled with the royal court to Andalusia to venerate the remains of Saint Ferdinand of Seville. At the same time, he painted 3 large canvases with innovation in depicting the life of Christ. Goya's "Sanlúcar Album" with his first sketches appeared.

In 1797 Goya painted the painting “The Duchess of Alba in a Mantilla” depicted in a mahi outfit (black mantilla and skirt) with the inscription in the sand “Solo Goya” (Only Goya). The Duchess of Alba was already a widow by that time. Due to poor health, Goya was forced to resign from his position as director of the painting department at the Academy of San Fernando.

In 1798, King Charles IV commissioned Goya to paint the dome of his country church of San Antonio de la Florida.

In 1799, the painting “The Taking of Christ into custody” was installed in the sacristy of the Toledo Cathedral, which is recognized for its perfect rendering of night lighting. In the same year, Goya’s famous series of etchings “Caprichos” was published, ridiculing social and religious orders in society. (The famous work from this series is “The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters”). The publication of "Caprichos" forces the Inquisition to intervene and stop sales.

In 1799 Goya was appointed first court artist with a salary of 50,000 reais per year

1800 the famous painting “Nude Macha” was painted.

1801 Goya completed the famous “Portrait of the Family of Charles IV”

1802 the painting “Mach Dressed” appeared, in which the same model and in the same pose as in “Mach Nude” appeared. Soon Goya's patron, the Duchess of Alba, died; Goya worked on a sketch of a tomb for the duchess (the drawing has been preserved).

From 1803 to 1808 Francisco Goya created only portraits.

1808 Spain was occupied by the French. The uprising in Madrid led to guerrilla warfare. New King Ferdinand VII, going to Bayonne, commissions Goya to paint his portrait. But he will be arrested along with the entire royal family and the artist will have to complete the portrait from memory. Together with the country, Goya has a hatred of war and Napoleon I, which is reflected in the series small paintings.

1814 Ferdinand VII repealed the 1812 constitution. A situation of dictatorship loomed in Spain. Although Ferdinand VII was hostile to Goya, all charges against him were dropped and his salary was returned.

In 1818 Goya completed a large canvas depicting the two patron saints of Seville, Justa and Rufina, in the form of buxom swings, for the Seville Cathedral. Later he completed the painting “The Last Communion of St. Joseph of Calasan” for the Escuelas Pias church in Madrid. Such hard work is amazing, considering that the artist is already 72 years old!

In 1820 Goya became seriously ill and ceased to be present at the Academy.

In 1823 Francisco Goya met Leocadia de Weiss, who divorced her husband and gave birth to a daughter, Rosarita (by that time Goya was 77 years old). In 1824, Goya, together with Leocadia and little Rosarita, went to France, and later moved to friends in Bardo. At the same time, he continued to paint pictures and create lithographs.

In 1826 Goya returned to Madrid and asked for permission to retire with his salary intact.

On April 16, 1828, Francisco Goya died in his apartment at the Fosse de l'Intendance in Bordeaux.

Becoming

Fame

Later years

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746 in Fuente de Todos (translated: “the source of all”), a small Aragonese village near Zaragoza. His parents were simple farmers who owned a small piece of land with a house. They dearly loved their son, a lively boy. From an early age he showed a great inclination towards painting and, among other things, painted the church of his parish by self-taught, so his parents did not oppose his desire to try his luck in the artistic field. At the age of 13, Francisco Goya entered the workshop of the then famous painter Jose de Lujan-Martinez in the Aragonese province in Zaragoza. “Inspector of the Inquisition” in terms of paintings and statues, with whom he lived for six whole years.

Goya's enterprising, ardent and passionate character soon placed him among his comrades at the head of all sorts of pranks, enterprises, fights and amusements. Goya was always distinguished by the same zeal for work as he was passionate about all kinds of pleasures.

At that time in Spain, almost every day one could see a wide variety of processions of all kinds of brotherhoods on the streets. The city of Zaragoza, where Goya spent his mischievous childhood, was famous for its magnificent religious processions on any occasion. Processions wandered through the ancient city, chanting prayers. Statues of painted wood saints swayed above the crowd. Sometimes on some narrow street two processions would bump into each other. Unintelligible Latin prayers gave way to distinct Spanish curses. A cheerful instinct drove the boys to where the scandal broke out. Francisco and his friends stirred up the squabble. They got under the monks' feet, having fun and fooling around. The wooden saints swayed from side to side in amazement. Then they were leaned against the wall. Everyone immediately forgot about them. The holy fathers sniffled, rolled up their sleeves and began to beat each other.

Someone reported to the inquisitors that Francisco Goya (born 1746, son of a village artisan, studying to become a painter) was the main instigator of these brawls, offensive to Christian faith. Goya fled from Zaragoza, warned by the monk Salvador, without even taking his brushes and paints. Thus Goya arrived in Madrid in 1765. He was then 19 years old.

Despite the modesty of their means, Goya’s relatives spared nothing for their son and managed to give him the opportunity to exist in Madrid, as in the center most favorable for the development of his abilities. However, very little is known about his successes in painting and about his first attempts in the artistic field.

In his early youth, Goya was most distinguished by his different love adventures and engaged in frequent duels with them, which is how he gained great fame among Spanish youth. Possessing extraordinary strength, agility, a remarkable ability for music and a pleasant voice, he spent whole nights on the streets of Madrid, walking, with a guitar in his hands and wrapped in a cloak, from one balcony to another and singing pretty “copias” under them.

But one of the duels young man became very famous, and the Inquisition intervened in this matter. Goya was in obvious danger, so he was advised to flee. He decided to go to Italy. Having no funds for this, Goya joined a troupe of bullfighters and, participating in their performances, moved with them from city to city. Thus he traveled throughout southern Spain.

Goya arrived in Rome exhausted, sick, emaciated, and almost without money. Fate brought him to the house of a kind old woman who treated him with kindness. great participation, and the comrades he met here took him to the studio of the Spanish artist Bayeu. Bayeux was Francisco's comrade in Lujan's workshop in Spain, and has now become an important person in Italy. Soon, having received financial help from his parents and supported by friends, he could get to work without worrying about the future.

His stay in Italy and the Italian school of painting did not influence the young Spanish artist at all: he remained completely original and independent. The classical, then universal, style did not take root in him at all. He did not learn to paint either Greek, Roman, or mythological paintings, and, one might say, he almost never touched them at all. He did not copy from famous paintings in museums, as everyone else does, but only looked at them for a long time. What attracted him most was famous portrait Pope Innocent XII Velazquez, in the Doria Palace. He didn't want to imitate anyone's style. Goya wrote very little in Rome. The few paintings he painted here were distinguished, what audacity for that time, by their national content. And what is most surprising is that these “strange” paintings attracted general attention.

At that time, Spain itself, its customs and even folk costumes were still very little known, and art lovers of all countries and nationalities, flocking from everywhere to Rome and visiting all the workshops here, were in a hurry to acquire the works of this novice artist, still a chick, but already promising and showing original talent. Goya began to enjoy some fame.

He secured an audience with Pope Benedict IV, and in two or three hours he painted his portrait, with which the holy father was very pleased. The portrait is still kept in the Vatican. Little by little, the fame of the young artist began to spread. One of Goya’s biographers, Iriarte, says that the then Russian envoy to the papal court, who, at the request of Empress Catherine II, invited various artists and painters to St. Petersburg, also made brilliant offers to Goya, as a celebrity. This envoy was probably the Marquis Maruzzi, who in the “Monthology with Paintings” for 1772 is shown as “the Russian charge d'affaires in Venice and other places in Italy.” But Goya refused and, probably, for the better for himself. Not a single foreign artist has had any luck in Russia.

The French art critic Paul Mantz, leafing through the “French Mercury” for 1772, several years ago found a note here indicating that Goya participated in a competition organized by the Academy of Arts in Parma. The given theme was: “The victorious Hannibal casts his first glance upon the plains of Italy from the summit of the Alps.” Goya received a second prize for his painting. The fact is very curious: an artist who is completely anti-academic, who does not recognize any rules or traditions, accepts the academic program and submits himself to the judgment of the Italian, that is, the most classical of the classical academies. The Academy's note that accompanied Goya's recognition of the second prize is very valuable for us: it somewhat clarifies for us a rather important gap in the activities of the Aragonese artist during this Roman period of his life. “The Academy,” this note says, “noticed with pleasure in the second picture the excellent skill with the brush, some fervent expression in Hannibal’s gaze and a lot of grandeur in his pose. If Mr. Goya, when painting the picture, had stayed closer to the program and put more truth into the coloring, probably many would have been in favor of giving him first prize."

These reproaches of the Parma Academy to Goya for the fact that he is moving away from the program and that he has little truth in color clearly prove that even then, during his first steps in the artistic field, he was already distinguished by courage and independence, that is, precisely those qualities that which later developed so widely in him.

Concerning privacy Goya in Rome, then here too he soon acquired a reputation as a cheerful comrade, a man with a brave and unbridled character, going towards all sorts of clashes and haberdashery adventures. Around 1774, by the way, he began a romantic affair with a young girl from Trastevere (the popular Roman quarter beyond the Tiber), whom her strict parents put in a monastery. Goya had the intention of kidnapping the young recluse. He sneaked into her hiding place at night, but was caught by the monks, who immediately handed him over to the police. But Goya was no longer the first person he met; his name was already quite famous. Thanks to the fact that the Spanish envoy to the papal court stood up for him, he was released from prison. Francisco Goya left Rome, leaving behind the memory of a brave daredevil who did not retreat from anything.

He returned to Madrid, ready to fight all prejudices, abuses and all kinds of violence. But it should be noted that, regardless of Goya’s personal mood, the time of that time could not have been more favorable to the emancipation of thought and spirit. The famous minister of Charles III, Count of Florida Blanca, tried little by little to break the omnipotence of the Inquisition, and Count d'Aranda, president of the Castilian council, managed to wrest from the king a decree limiting the range of actions of the Inquisition to only the crimes of heresy and apostasy.

Returning to Spain, Goya immediately went for a while to Fuente de Todos to visit his “old people,” as he called them. Here Goya lived in the very center of Aragon, among the villagers, one might well say, “in the lap of nature.” Goya passionately loved the people and spent most of his time among them, participating in all their pleasures, amusements and gatherings. It was here that he prepared for his subsequent work as a national painter, an artist who was destined to convey on canvas the outdated characteristic morals and customs of his homeland. Of his works during his stay in Aragon, only two paintings are known, very small in size, but distinguished by the subtlety of color. They are currently in the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts. One of these paintings depicts “The Madhouse” and was painted from a sketch from life in a madhouse in Zaragoza. The second plot is “Meeting of the Inquisition Court.” Both pictures are rather insignificant and have little artistic value, but they show what the artist began to strive for in painting and what subjects he began to strive for.

Goya married in 1775, soon after returning from Rome, according to some of his biographers, to his sister, according to others, to the daughter of the court painter and his former teacher in Rome, Bayeux. His wife, Josefa, a quiet and meek woman, was wholeheartedly devoted to her fickle, although kind, husband, this hero of endless love intrigues and the favorite of various high-ranking and court ladies. She tried in every possible way to tie him to the house, but she, however, was not destined to see this. A year later, they had a son, who subsequently, after Goya’s death, was granted the title of Marquis del Espinar by the king for his father’s services. In addition, family life was overshadowed early death almost all the couple's children (from 5 to 8, the exact number is not known). Only one survived, Javier, who later also became an artist.

In 1774, Goya was appointed responsible for developing sketches for the tapestries of the royal carpet weaving manufactory. Goya suddenly appeared as an innovator here. With extraordinary courage, abandoning the traditions of that time, he replaced the mythology of the images of various heroes and gods, which until then had decorated the palace walls in Spain, as well as throughout Europe, with scenes taken from the environment immediately surrounding him. folk life. He painted here scenes of folk amusements and amusements, various games, dances, street scenes, adventures, holidays, hunting, fishing.

A few years later, the Spanish King Charles III noticed the talented painter and arranged an audience with Goya, after which his career took off. In 1779 he achieved a position as court painter, and later became a member of the Royal Academy of San Fernando. In 1786, Goya received the honor of being named the personal artist of the Spanish King Charles III. During these years, in addition to portraits of the royal family, most of the work was commissioned by noble citizens, as well as dome and wall paintings of cathedrals. Goya's special painting technique became noticeable - he applied paints very quickly, his works were distinguished by strong impasto. Pastosity, from the Italian pastoso - pasty, in painting a technique of working in dense, non-transparent layers, strokes of paint. Color preferences included a combination of white, blue, black, and ocher. Goya's innovation had big success and laid the first foundation for his fame as a national everyday painter. His name then became popular in Spain and became especially famous for a series of large cardboards.

In 1780, Goya was elected a member of the Academy of Arts of Saint Fernand. The same Academy to which he was twice not accepted to study. He was then only 34 years old. Works of art who brought him the academician's chair were the following:

• - “Christ on the Cross” in the Church of St. Francis;
• - “Sermon of St. Francis on the Mount" in the same church;
• - a series of cardboards for the carpet factory of St. Barbarians;
• - a significant number of different everyday paintings;
• - several historical portraits of very large sizes.

Goya's first major work, after his appointment as an academician, was a fresco painting of one of the domes of the cathedral church Mother of God del Pilar in Zaragoza. This church was then redecorated, and all the painting work was entrusted by the cathedral chapter to the painter Bayeux, who called on his relative Goya and other artists to participate in the work. Here Goya was forced to experience a lot of trouble, since his sketches were not liked by the church authorities, and he had to change them and subject them to Bayeux’s approval, and this greatly hurt his pride.

Until then, Goya moved in a completely different environment. He was fond of folk morals and customs, often mixed with the crowd, participated in all its festivities and fun, he himself danced and directed the dances of common people on the banks of Manzanares. Sang songs with the muleteers, observing here and there a picturesque pose, gesture, movement and delving into the inner meaning folk customs. He was constantly seen in markets, in squares, among public festivals and crowd gatherings, and soon every last worker and inhabitant of the Madrid outskirts began to know the painter Goya.

In 1788, after the death of Charles III, his son, Charles IV, ascended the Spanish throne. With the new reign, life at court changed completely. The stern bigot Charles III imposed on everyone around him the bonds of hypocrisy and abstinence, feigned purity of morals and outward modesty. When the good-natured king, infinitely weak and careless, and the queen, known for her debauchery and cynical immorality, took over the government of the state, the court took on a completely different appearance. In high society, a frantic passion for pleasure, complete licentiousness of morals and unbridled luxury broke through.

Three months after ascending the throne, Charles IV elevated Goya to the position of “court painter.” This appointment greatly surprised Goya himself. Two years before, in 1786, when he was appointed “royal painter,” he wrote to his friend Zapater: “I have created for myself an enviable lifestyle: I don’t curry favor with anyone, I don’t wait in anyone’s front room, I take work with great analysis, and that is precisely why, it seems, they did not leave me and will not leave me alone. I’m so overwhelmed with different orders that I don’t know how to cope with it all!” Having found himself in great favor with the king, becoming the favorite of the queen and her famous favorite Duke Manuel Godoy, “Prince of Peace” (a nickname received for one successfully settled peace), Goya, by nature a merciless satirist, a cruel scourge of all moral laxity, all violence and oppression, I felt very at ease and free in the suffocating and corrupt atmosphere of the then Spanish court. Judging by his appearance alone, one might even think that this appointment to the position was to his taste. Goya immediately became the soul of court society and the center of various gallant adventures. But in reality this was not the case. Spinning in the murky whirlpool of a brilliant and idle life, participating in various weaknesses, debauchery and intrigues of his entourage, Goya not only never renounced his fundamental tastes and the rights of an inexorable critic, but also became tempered in them more than ever before. Not paying any attention to the fact that so-and-so showered him with favors and favors today, he was always ready tomorrow to sting him with ridicule and satire, when he felt a reason to do so in his soul. He could not be bribed with affection, friendship, or any kind of disposition. Nor could he be restrained by any fear.

Queen Marie-Louise, an Italian by birth, treated the witty and brilliant Goya with the greatest favor. His satirical direction, his causticity and wit amused her. Highly appreciating him as an unusually pleasant, lively and original interlocutor, she allowed him all sorts of bold and caustic antics and reasoning. After all, he was only an “artist” and nothing more, a person without any official character or significance! Consequently, he could be allowed to interfere in everything with impunity and innocently. And Goya knew how to perfectly take advantage of this exceptional position.

In Madrid high society, competing with each other, at that time two ladies excelled in their nobility of origin, wealth and intelligence: the Duchess d'Alba and the Countess Benavente. Goya had a long-term friendship with both of them, wrote paintings for them, drew caricatures and all kinds of drawings He decorated the halls of Countess Benavente's country palace in the vicinity of Madrid with beautiful frescoes (everyday scenes from contemporary life). But when later these two ladies, Duchess d'Alba and Countess Benavente, quarreled, Goya took the side of Duchess d'Alba. and beautiful, while her rival in dandy, luxury and adventure was old and unpleasant. Many of Goya’s drawings are filled with portraits in. different types the beauty he idolizes, at the same time, many drawings are devoted to caricatures of the comically youthful and long-faded old woman Countess Benavente.

At the same time, he began to draw caustic caricatures of Queen Marie Louise. Because he was soul and body on the side of the Duchess d'Alba, when she stood in opposition to Marie-Louise and tried with all her might to show her her antipathy and independence. The queen, driven out of patience, ordered, in 1793, the Duchess d'Alba to leave from the court and go to her estate in Andalusia, San Lucar. Goya also went there with her, who was ordered to “leave Madrid for two months to improve his health.” Only he stayed with the Duchess much longer than the instructions. He stayed on her estate whole year, while still in Madrid, he managed to become the duchess’s most intimate friend.

This exile, in addition to the greatest blessings, was also marked by great misfortune for Goya. The travelers' carriage broke down on the road. It was still a long way to the nearest village. Goya, who had considerable strength, began to lift the fallen carriage, and then, having lifted it, he decided to start a large fire, in front of which he fiddled for a long time in order to solder something needed in the carriage. After strong voltage and while he was busy, he caught such a cold and such a general disorder that he immediately began to lose his hearing and soon became permanently deaf. From the time of this accident, his constant bad mood and those violent outbursts began, which sometimes later alienated even his closest friends from him. However, Goya was so observant and got such a habit of following his interlocutor, looking at the movement of his lips, that he could (especially in the first years) guess everything that was said to him.

Thanks to the influence of Duke Godoy (a favorite of Queen Marie-Louise and the first minister who patronized Goya, despite all his most evil caricatures of himself), Goya was elected chairman of the Madrid Academy of Arts in 1795. At this time, his fame and glory in Spain reached their apogee. The royal family was no longer angry with him for a long time. The entire aristocracy, the entire court, was seized by an uncontrollable need to have their own portraits by Goya. This became a habit of high society in Madrid. The royal family even set an example for everyone else. Goya suddenly became a fashionable portrait painter. The fact is very strange, Goya’s brush is not at all soft or tender, it is sometimes even rough. He never made concessions to the tastes of the public, and moreover, he was of the most quarrelsome, indomitable and hot-tempered character. He lost his temper at the slightest remark or contradiction from the person from whom he painted the portrait. IN English biography Goya, placed in the “Encyclopaedia Britannica” (British Encyclopedia 1880, volume XI), it is said that when the famous Duke of Wellington made some comments to Goya about his portrait, which he was painting at that moment. Goya, becoming enraged, grabbed a plaster figure lying or standing nearby in the room and threw it at Wellington’s head. But, despite anything like that, Goya was given the opportunity to taste the full cup of glory during his lifetime and be present at his triumph.

Goya hosted the entire court and the entire aristocracy, gave holidays, where he invited grandees and royal infantas. Charles IV loved Goya very much, and he completely forgot strict Spanish etiquette with him. They spent a lot of time hunting together, and both were completely delighted with each other.

Goya was at that time at the very height of his talent. The king commissioned him to paint with frescoes the small church of St. Antonia de la Florida, in the immediate vicinity of Madrid, near the royal hunting lodge “Casa del campo” (Indoor arena). Goya made his chef d'oeuvre (masterpiece) here. Nowhere did he so show his brilliant sense of color and at the same time his desire to paint Spain everywhere and anywhere. Only Spain and the contemporary Spaniards, mainly the contemporary Spanish common people Goya completed this huge and complex work with incredible speed, within three months of 1798. With these frescoes he reached the highest point of his fame at court and among the nobility, and at the same time the highest point of popularity among the rest of the Spanish people.

Goya’s painting, which is also very famous among the Spaniards, dates back to the same era. oil paints, located in the Toledo Cathedral and depicting the “Kissing of Judas”. This painting is distinguished by its hot coloring and spectacular lighting, somewhat reminiscent of Rembrandt's style. But at this time a major revolution was taking place in the direction of Goya’s activities. From a painter, he becomes almost exclusively a draftsman - an engraver. However, by exchanging a brush for a pencil and an engraving needle, he loses nothing. On the contrary, he takes his real path and it is in these new works of his that he creates what was to forever strengthen his glory not for Spain alone, but for all of Europe. goya engraving etching composition

Back in the 30s of his life, Goya was engaged in engraving. He always passionately loved the great Spanish painter Velazquez. His truthfulness, his reality, his removal from everything conventional and academic had a strong effect on Goya’s soul. Because they were quite consistent with his own mood. And so Goya plans to reproduce through engraving the best and most remarkable creations of his great teacher. But he does these reproductions not through engraving - with a chisel, a classical method, heavy, slow and often too mechanically correct. But through an engraving needle and etching with strong vodka. A fast, free, capricious and incorrect way, and most importantly, in highest degree artistic and picturesque. Here before his eyes were the great, incomparable examples of Rembrandt, that is, that artist whom Goya, together with Velazquez, loved above all other artists in the world. And so, starting in 1778, Goya made a whole series of excellent etchings, colorful and masterful. At first he reproduced many of best portraits Velazquez of enormous size, which were then in the Royal Palace of Madrid: portraits of Philip III and Philip IV, queens Margaret of Austria, Isabella of Bourbon, Don Baltasar Carlos, son of Philip IV, minister Olivares. But then he moves on to whole paintings. He engraved famous painting Velazquez, called "Las Meninas", which presents a whole scene from the home life of the royal family. Following this painting, Goya engraved many of Velázquez's other major works, his Pituses Crowned with Bacchus, Menippus, Aesop, The Water-Carrier and many of his famous Charles and Jesters.

In 1812 his wife died. There was a terrible famine in the country. Goya, at the invitation of the commander of Aragon's troops, Palafox, visited Zaragoza twice. Painted a portrait of the commander. But mostly I made small sketches and small paintings. From these later a series of engravings “Horrors of War” grew. Last years During his stay in Madrid, Goya lived in his house on the banks of Manzanares, among the fantastic frescoes that inspired fear and horror, with which he personally painted its walls. Deeply feeling the boredom of loneliness, the forgotten Goya asked the king to take leave abroad “to improve his health.” He went to Paris in 1822, and then settled in Bordeaux, where he remained until 1827. Coming every year to Madrid for only a few days to attend a bullfight, his eternal passion. After that, he came to Madrid again in 1827 to ask the king for an “indefinite leave”, despite all his dislike for the artist - a satirist, an independent and free-thinking politician. the king treated him with outward respect as to the artistic glory of Spain. He gave him the requested indefinite leave, but demanded that Goya allow the new court painter Lopez to paint a portrait of himself, and a portrait of Goya, very characteristic, thanks to the intervention of himself. Goya, is now in the Madrid Academy of Fine Arts. Then Goya's. last time and returned to Bordeaux forever. The last months of his life were full of irritation, anger and violent impulses. No one could please him, he constantly attacked everyone around him and got angry, and yet he did not stop working with a pencil. The number of his drawings from this time is enormous. Finally, on March 15, 1828, he died at the age of 82. After the solemn funeral, the mortal remains of the great artist were buried in a cemetery in Bordeaux. Then his ashes were transported to his homeland and buried in the church, the walls and ceiling of which he had once painted.

Universal creativity of Francisco Goya

Self portrait
Autorretrato
1783
Gallery: Musée Agen, France

The range of Francisco Goya's skill is enormous - both in subject matter (he painted portraits, genre and battle scenes) and in the technical techniques used. According to the Spanish philosopher and publicist José Ortega y Gasset, the artist “appealed to everyone possible topics– religious and secular, diabolical and phantasmagorical.

Portrait of Maria Teresa de Vallabriga on horseback
Retrato de María Teresa de Vallabriga a caballo
1783

Goya did not bypass any genre, be it religious and cult painting, allegory, perspective composition, satirical engraving or caricature.

Isn’t it in this universal, all-encompassing nature of Goya’s work that one of the reasons lies that not a single art critic was able to determine the organic integrity of the artist’s entire art?”

Wife of Juan Agustin Ceán Bermúdez
Esposa de Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez
c.1785

Francisco Goya was born on March 30, 1746 in the small village of Fuentetodos, Spain. He acquired his first drawing skills in the workshop of Jose Lusan, who adhered to academic canons in painting. After several unsuccessful attempts to continue his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, he traveled around Italy from about 1769 to 1771.

St. Gregory the Great
San Gregorio el Grande
1797

During this trip he received second prize in a painting competition organized by the Academy of Fine Arts of Parma. Returning to his homeland, the artist completed frescoes for the side nave of the Church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar in Zaragoza, marked by a strong influence of the Italian Baroque. In 1773 he came to Madrid, and in subsequent years he produced about 60 cardboards for carpets produced by the royal manufactory.

Duke of Alba
Duque de Alba
1795

Rich in color and simple in composition, they depicted people engaged in everyday activities. Among these works, “Umbrella”, “Game of Pelota”, “Game of Blind Man’s Bluff” stand out. Goya's work on these cardboards became one of the most fruitful stages in the beginning of the artist's career in Madrid.

Fame came to him in the early 1780s thanks to portraits painted in exquisite colors that create a slight haze (“Family of the Duke of Osuna”, “Portrait of Isabel Cobos de Porcel”). Goya took on portraits, among other things, in order to earn a living.

Portrait of Ferdinand Guillemardet
Retrato de Fernando Guillemardet
1798

So, in 1783 he painted “Portrait of Count Floridablanca”, and on next year– “The Sermon of Saint Bernard of Siena.”

In 1780, Francisco Goya became a member of the Madrid Academy of Arts, in 1785 - vice-director, in 1795 - director of its painting department. In 1786, he received the title of court painter, which provided him with a significant annual salary and allowed him to paint not only commissioned portraits, but also work on his own art projects, which include, for example, the painting “Fair in the Meadow of San Isidro”.

Goya's works, created in 1786-1792, are characterized by pearl shimmers, echoes of French Rococo. Over the course of six years, the artist managed to achieve creative and public recognition. In 1789, King Charles IV appointed him to the position of chief court painter. At this time, Goya created cardboards “The Game of Blind Man's Bluff” and “Rural Wedding”.

Portrait of Don Francisco de Borja Tellez Giron
Retrato de Don Francisco de Borja Tellez Girón
c.1816

In 1792, the artist suffered a misfortune that affected his work. During a trip to the city of Cadiz, the artist fell seriously ill and lost his hearing forever. He was unable to fully recover from this blow of fate until the end of his life. According to many critics, after his illness, the artist’s work acquired its own inimitable style, the characteristic feature of which was a deeply pessimistic vision of the world.

From a letter from Francisco Goya to his friend, writer and diplomat Bernardo de Iriarte, dated January 4, 1794:

“To occupy my imagination, tormented by thoughts of my troubles... I painted a series of small paintings in which I was able to reflect what usually does not find a place in commissioned works, where there is no room for whims and invention.”

This period of Goya’s work includes the paintings “Madhouse”, “Funeral of a Sardine”, “Bullfight”, “Procession of the Self-Flagelled” and others.

In 1798, the artist created magnificent frescoes of the Temple of San Antonio de la Florida, and then the famous series of etchings “Caprichos”. In 1801, Goya completed one of his most famous masterpieces, The Family of King Charles IV. The artist’s work also reflected the war for Spanish independence from Napoleonic France.

The Quail Shoot
La caza de la codorniz o La partida de caza
1775

He painted a series of etchings “The Horrors of War” and paintings “The Uprising of May 2, 1808 in Madrid: Battle with the Mamelukes” and “Execution of the Rebels on the Night of May 3, 1808 in Madrid, on the Principe Pio Hill.” In 1817-1819, Goya worked on his “Self-Portrait”, which later became famous. In the features of his face, the artist displayed traces of the dramatic events of his life. He achieved special expressiveness through the contrast of the light falling on the face and the darkened background of the picture.

The Fight at the Venta Nueva
La lucha en la Venta Nueva
1777

In 1823, after the overthrow of the constitutional order in Spain, the liberal Goya was forced to leave first for Paris and then for Bordeaux. There he continued to create paintings and engravings – the “Bulls of Bordeaux” series. The master’s last works were “The Milkmaid from Bordeaux” and “Portrait of José Pio de Molina,” which he never managed to complete. Francisco Goya died on the night of April 15-16, 1828.

Based on materials from the “Encyclopedia of World Painting” (M.: Olma-Press, 2001. – pp. 83-85) and the book “Prado Museum. Spanish painting" (Editorial Escudo de Oro, S. A. – pp. 84-111).

Tvkultura.ru 03.30.06

The Swing
El Columpio
1779

They Sing for the Composer
Cantan para el compositor
Genre: capriccio

Even so he cannot make her out
Ni asi la distingue
Genre: capriccio

Mariana Waldstein, Ninth Marquesa de Santa Cruz
Mariana Waldstein, marquesa de Santa Cruz Novena