The Spanish Manner: Drawings from Ribera to Goya
October 5, 2010, through January 9, 2011
Exhibition Checklist: Goya's Drawings
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Self-Portrait
c. 1798
Chalk over traces of pencil
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
CAT. NO. 33 |
Only a few years after the illness that left him
deaf, Francisco de Goya portrayed himself in the
fashionable garb and sideburns of a late eighteenth-century
gentleman. This drawing is the preliminary
design for the etching that served as the frontispiece
of Goya’s Caprichos, his series of eighty aquatint
etchings published in 1799. As a preparatory work,
the sheet provides an intimate glimpse of the artist’s
working process in red chalk.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
A Fight (Album B. 15)
1796–97
Brush and ink with wash
The Hispanic Society of America, New York
CAT. NO. 34 |
This extraordinary scene depicts a majo, the
fashionably dressed man reclining in front, watching
two women (or perhaps a man and a woman) brawl
on the floor. The delicacy and control of Goya’s
brushwork almost offset the violence of the scene,
in which one person raises a shoe to hit the other,
who grabs the first person’s hair. They are sprawled
on the ground, their garments raised and legs
intertwined, to the apparent amusement of the majo.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Fatal desgracia. Toda la casa es un clamor, p.r q.e no à óbrado la Perrica en todo el dia (What a Disaster! The Whole House Is in an
Uproar Because the Poor Little Dog [Bitch]
Hasn’t Done Her Duty All Day) (Album B. 91)
1796–97
Brush and ink
Collection Michael and Judy Steinhardt, New York
CAT. NO. 35 (recto) |
Figures cry, pray, and count rosary beads, distraught
by the situation described in Goya’s caption. The
double-entendre of the word “Perrica” (little dog, or
bitch) suggests that their concern is not the animal
but the seated woman in tears — a prostitute with no
customers. The dog instead seems to play the role
of narrator as she is the only character who engages
the viewer.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Borricos de Mascara. Estan muy contentos,
de q.e p.r los bestidos, pasan por hombres
grandes (Masquerading Asses. They Are
Pleased That Because of Their Clothing They
Are Taken for Grandees) (Album B. 92)
1796–97
Brush and ink, retouched with pen and ink
Collection Michael and Judy Steinhardt, New York
CAT. NO. 35 (verso) |
Goya identifies as “masquerading asses” both
the frocked donkeys and the obsequious young
man who is fooled by their attire, but whose own
finery may be considered equally superficial and
meaningless. When Goya returned to the drawing
to inscribe his caption, he took his pen to the image
and strengthened, with warm brown in, the lines
of the man’s hair and costume and the donkeys’ ears
and faces.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Tuti li mundi (Peepshow) (Album C. 71)
1808–14
Pen, brush and ink with wash and crayon or chalk
The Hispanic Society of America, New York
CAT. NO. 36 |
While a man enjoys the view offered by a tuti li mundi — a term (literally meaning “all the world”)
for the kind of peepshow box pictured here — a
woman delights in a glimpse of his backside,
actively peering into the tear in his pants. The irony
implied is that the box offers something equally
lowbrow, absurd, or satiric, despite its claim to offer
the worldly and fantastic.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Tiene prisa de e[s]capar
(She’s in a Hurry to Escape) (Album C. 128)
1808–14
Brush and ink with wash
The Hispanic Society of America, New York
CAT. NO. 37 |
Goya’s caption reinforces the worried look of this
young nun seen removing her habit. This scene of
“unfrocking,” symbolic of leaving a religious order,
may be a response to the secularization law that forced
monks and nuns out of monasteries and convents
during the Napoleonic era. Inventive touches — such as
the fallen cloak that doubles as the figure’s shadow —
temper Goya’s often strident anticlericalism.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
A Nude Woman Seated beside a Brook
(Album F. 32)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 38 |
Nudes are rare in Goya’s work, as are drawings in
which landscape figures prominently. The artist took
a painterly approach to the setting, covering most of
the paper with ink and allowing the exposed areas —
the woman’s bare flesh and the light shining through
the trees — to gleam in contrast. The onlooker in
the background suggests that the drawing could
represent the biblical story of Susanna and the Elders.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Crowd in a Circle (Album F. 42)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 39 |
This drawing almost defies description. While the
circular composition perhaps relates to a dance,
the large number of figures and the open circle of
white space in the background suggest another
activity, perhaps one far less pleasant than dancing.
Figures in the right foreground appear to be
engaged in an argument.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Repentance (Album F. 47)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink with wash
Gregory Callimanopulos
CAT. NO. 40 |
An emaciated male penitent prays with clasped hands
in front of a makeshift cross. His gaping mouth and
lost gaze suggest a state of either ecstatic rapture
or vacant drowsiness. A rationalist with liberal sympathies, Goya satirized his contemporaries’
religious fanaticism in mordant drawings and
etchings that depict the exaggerated behaviors of
the overly devout. A few brushstrokes and effective
washes suggest the play of light on the rocky
surroundings, probably the entry to a hermit’s cave.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Three Men Digging (Album F. 51)
1812–20
Brush and wash
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 41 |
This vigorous drawing has long been considered
a preliminary sketch for The Frick Collection’s
painting The Forge (on view in the East Gallery on
the main floor). The subtle changes that took place
between this triad of figures and their counterparts
in The Forge show the malleability and economy
of Goya’s pictorial thinking. Scenes from life and
imagination filled his albums and supplied him
with an endless source of material that could be
reworked to new ends.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Torture of a Man (Album F. 56)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink
The Hispanic Society of America, New York
CAT. NO. 42 |
Goya sketched scenes of violence and torture
throughout his career. Here, a man with his wrists
tied behind his back is being interrogated with
the help of the strappado, a device that causes a
painful dislocation of the shoulders and elbows.
By concealing the faces of the two men operating
the crank, Goya invites the viewer to concentrate
on the drama of the man kicking in midair, whose
gracefulness belies the horror of the scene.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
A Man Drinking from a Wineskin (Album F. 63)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink, with scraping
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 43 |
The focus on the kneeling figure in the center of the
sheet, and his isolation in space without context
emphasize the loneliness of the endeavor. The large
wineskin, the man’s top hat, and his shadow are all
reinforced with saturated brushstrokes of darker
ink. Delicate strokes made with the point of a brush
define the crumpled cloth where he kneels.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
A Nun Frightened by a Ghost (Album F. 65)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink with wash
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 44 |
In this ingenious portrayal of a nightmare apparition,
Goya used the wet point of his brush to depict the
phantom in transparent wash. The nun in the
foreground, confronting the apparition with her
hand raised, has been reinforced in darker wash.
A saturated brush full of ink created the rich, dark
contrast of her veil and the shadow under her hand.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Beggar Holding a Stick in His Left Hand
(Album F. 70)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 45 |
Goya’s depictions of poverty are unflinching. Here,
an aged beggar fixes the viewer in his gaze while
extending his hat to receive alms. The shadows cast
by the man and his cane define the scene’s space and
increase its sense of stark isolation. This particular
type of representation may have been inspired by
etchings of solitary paupers by Rembrandt, an artist
Goya greatly admired.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Peasant Carrying a Woman (Album F. 72)
1814–20
Brush and ink with wash
The Hispanic Society of America, New York
CAT. NO. 46 |
Goya’s ability to capture with split-second timing
images of figures engaged in vigorous activity
is matched here by his succinct execution. The
dynamism of the scene comes across immediately,
but the meaning remains obscure: is he assisting
or abducting her? Goya repeatedly focused on the
effect of gravity on the body. In such scenes as this
one, figures support each other and the weight of
the body is apparent.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Two Prisoners in Irons (Album F. 80)
c. 1812–20
Brush and ink
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 47 |
Two prisoners, chained to a wall and shackled,
occupy the foreground of this sheet conceived in
light shadow. Daylight enters from the upper right
corner, where bars form a grid over the window, and
highlights the back of the adult figure. The adult
prisoner bends toward the figure of the similarly
chained child, casting a pool of shadow on the floor.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
The Anglers (Album F. a)
1814–20
Brush and wash
The Frick Collection, New York
CAT. NO. 48 |
Goya covered the writing on the top of this used
piece of paper with layers of wash. The resulting
shape appears to have suggested a grotto with
figures fishing. In contrast to the large wash areas,
he defines with the greatest precision the features of
a face, the details of a costume, and even the fishing
line with the tip of his brush, while leaving the fish
itself a mere blot.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
No llenas tanto la cesta (Don’t Fill the Basket So Full) (Album E. 8)
c. 1814–20
Brush and ink with wash, with scraping
Private collection, New York
CAT. NO. 49 |
An old woman huddles over her basket of eggs in
the lower third of the sheet in this brush and ink
wash from the “Black Border” Album. Goya’s
caption cautions against filling the basket too
full, an admonition or advice to the woman, who
appears self-contained, clutching the handle of her
basket. The meaning of the eggs, usually a sign of
promise and fertility, is ambiguous here.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Mal tiempo pasas (You Are Having a Bad Time) (Album E. 26)
c. 1816–20
Brush and wash
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York,
Thaw Collection, gift in honor of the 75th anniversary
of the Morgan Library and the 50th anniversary of the
Association of Fellows. (1999.23)
CAT. NO. 50 |
Goya’s shepherd appears ragged and bent, while
his sheep rests. Christ told the parable of the Good
Shepherd, saying: “I am the Good Shepherd. The
good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep”
(John 10:11).
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Pobre e gnuda bai filosofia (Poor and Bare
Goes Philosophy) (Album E. 28)
c. 1816–17
Brush and ink with wash
Collection Michael and Judy Steinhardt, New York
CAT. NO. 51 |
Does this peasant woman gaze upward in
bewilderment or in comprehension of the words
she has just read? Although Goya’s caption (a quote
from Petrarch, in faulty Italian) could be ironic, the
gleaming light that illuminates the figure’s face —
conveyed through the contrast of the exposed white
paper and the dark ink — suggests that this is a
scene of true personal enlightenment, which can be
experienced by all.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Regozijo (Mirth) (Album D. 4)
c. 1816–20
Brush and ink with wash and chalk
The Hispanic Society of America, New York
CAT. NO. 52 |
Liberated from gravity and the limitations of
their aging bodies, two floating figures exchange
a touching look of shared delight. The woman’s
billowing skirt, rendered with bold dabs of ink
wash, conveys the speed of their magical ascension.
Goya’s numerous depictions of airborne figures are
roughly contemporary with experiments with hotair
balloons and parachutes in Europe, though here
he includes no such device. This couple’s levity is
pure fantasy. Fittingly, the man plays castanets,
a symbol of happiness or mirth.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
De esto nada se sabe (Nothing Is Known of This) (Album D. 7)
c. 1816–20
Brush and ink, with scraping
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
CAT. NO. 53 |
The caption of this drawing suggests that there is a
mystery inherent in the scene. The two figures in the
front appear to bend over a bundle of sorts. Behind
them, a singing or speaking figure emerges from the
arched doorway of a church, holding a piece of paper
with writing. There is an ominous tone, conveyed by
the gaping mouths and dark ink shadows.
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Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828)
Amaneció asi, mutilado, en Zaragoza, a
principios de 1700 (He Appeared Like This,
Mutilated, in Zaragoza, Early in 1700),
(Album G. 16)
1824–28
Crayon
Dian Woodner Collection, New York
CAT. NO. 54 |
Goya’s narrative caption recalls a horrible mutilation
that took place in his home town years before his
birth. Heavy strokes of black crayon at the bottom
of the bundle suggest blood pooled inside the fabric,
around the man’s protruding legs. This is one of
several drawings Goya made to comment on grisly
historical events he had heard of but not witnessed.
The exhibition is organized by Jonathan Brown, Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University;
Lisa A. Banner, independent scholar; and Susan Grace Galassi, Senior Curator at The Frick Collection.
The exhibition is made possible, in part, by the David L. Klein Jr. Foundation, Elizabeth and Jean-Marie Eveillard, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
The accompanying catalogue has been generously underwritten by the Center for Spain in America. |
