Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Tiempo by Francisco de Goya


It was recently reported that Goya's Children With A Cart painting was stolen during its journey from an Ohio museum to an art exhibit in New York City. The painting, estimated to be worth over $1 million, was originally a model painting for a tapestry.

Goya's work is probably not as well-known as other artists today. He was a Spanish painter who was often hired by royalty to paint portraits and other works of art. In his old age he went deaf in his left ear. Today it is thought to have been the paint that Goya used which contained lead. Much of Goya's art is typical for the era in which he painted; however some of his work is far from ordinary. In fact some of it is frightening, disturbing and, yes, even grotesque. One drawing in Goya's Caprices series, for example, includes ugly old witch-like women manhandling a couple of very small children. One of the witches in the drawing is stoking a fire with a baby's exaggerated flatulation while another old woman fellates a baby. Many lovers of his art have said his most disturbing images are nothing short of brilliant, namely the pieces that belong to his Black Paintings collection.

One of his most startling paintings include Saturno Devorando a su Hijo (Saturn Devouring His Son).

The above art is entitled Tiempo, which means Time in English. Please click on the image for a better view. You may see much more of his art here.

2 Comments:

Blogger kev said...

I remember studying a little about him for one of my art classes. He definitely depicts some very dark times/visions within his works. 'The Incantation' is probably my favorite of his. Although I don't know the title, the one that has had an everlasting impression on me since I was younger was his etching of a guy impaled (sodomized) by a tree.
Very cool, babe! I had to laugh at the "stoking a fire with a baby's exaggerated flatulence" LOL! ... The way he depicts the other old woman and baby sounds quite disturbing though... icky!

Thank you for posting, hon.

11/14/2006 10:45 PM  
Blogger Cade said...

:) Thank you for commenting sweetie <3

There's a lot of his artwork that I really appreciate, though I beg to differ on the belief by art historians that his darker work was his finest.

11/28/2006 5:36 PM  

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