Goya

by Josep Gudiol i Ricart

Francisco Goya, El Greco, Velazquez, Picasso - this is the pantheon of Spanish painters. Each was a genius, immune to convention, who rewrote the rules of painting in his time. Here, the Spanish art historian Jose Gudiol explores Goya's complex character and technique, grounding his discussion in the common vicissitudes of the artist's life - a childhood of poverty, humiliation in the face of the academic painters of Madrid, an illness that left him dead and isolated from society at mid-llife. This prodigiously productive artist, who finally attained the post of First Court Painter and created some of art's greatest portraits, plunged privately into an abyss of despair, out of which he brought some of the most terrifying works of the nineteenth century - painting and prints evoking the disaster of war and the irrepressible voices of the subconscious.

Genres: Art, Spain

128 pages, Hardcover

First published December 31, 1966

About the author

Josep Gudiol i Ricart (Vic, 1904 - Barcelona, 1985) fou historiador de l'art i arquitecte. Era nebot de mossèn Josep Gudiol i Cunill, patriarca de la historiografia artística vigatana i ànima del Museu Episcopal de Vic i fou pare de la pintora Montserrat Gudiol.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

nice little book that focuses on Goya's disparates. provides some good comparative images as well as some overview on his process, the series, and this time in his life in Spain.

[Joel Ackerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goya is yet another example of a prolific worker making good. His sudden deafness due to illness did not seem to derail him in the slightest.

[Frederic · Rating 3 out of 5]

An older book, so the plates probably aren't as crisp as they might be in a newer one, but nice large format and the 15 (or so) color ones are pretty good; the B&W plates are often less sharp and overly contrasty. Still a decent introduction to the wonders of Goya, though.