Francisco José de Goya ( * 1746 † 1828 )
Artist Francisco José de Goya
Experience the impressive art of Francisco de Goya – the great painter bridging Rococo, Romanticism, and dark modernity! With a keen eye and emotional depth, he created powerful portraits, socially critical scenes, and visionary imagery. Discover his multifaceted works as high-quality art prints, stylishly framed canvas pictures, or artfully hand-painted oil paintings in customizable sizes!
Francisco Goya (Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes) was born on March 30, 1746, in Fuendetodos, near Zaragoza, Spain. Goya was a rebellious and revolutionary artist of the 18th and early 19th centuries.
At the age of 14, his artistic journey began. In 1760, he studied with the Baroque painter José Luzán y Martínez in Zaragoza. In 1763, he moved to Madrid and worked in the workshop of the court painter Francisco Bayeu.
From 1763-1766, Goya sought to study at the Spanish Royal Academy, even submitting his works. However, his application was rejected. Without an academic degree, the young artist aspired to continue studying Baroque art and fresco painting in Italy. Around 1769/70, he traveled to Rome. However, in 1771 he returned to Spain and received his first commissions as a fresco painter for chapels and cathedrals. His early works were religious paintings and altarpieces in the Baroque-Rococo style. In 1773, Goya married Josefa Bayeu, the sister of his former teacher Francisco Bayeu. They had about twenty children together, but only one son survived.
Since 1775, he created designs for the royal tapestry factory Santa Bárbara in Madrid, marking the beginning of his career at court. Under the direction of the German artist Anton Raphael Mengs, Goya painted scenes from everyday life as well as aristocratic hobbies.
Over time, his painting style evolved. He distanced himself from the influences of his teachers and grew as an independent painter. Two masters played a significant role in this development: Rembrandt and Velázquez. One provided him with inspiration for his later drawings and etchings, and the other introduced him to the art of realism. A third important source of his inspiration was, not least, nature.
Goya also made a name for himself with portrait painting. In the upper echelons of the nobility, he portrayed court officials and members of the aristocracy. This resulted in portraits of the Marquesa de Pontejos and Count Floridablanca, the Prince of Floridablanca, and Charles IV of Spain.
In 1780, not without the influence of his brother-in-law Francisco Bayeu y Subías, Goya was appointed a member of the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid and ennobled. Later, he was appointed deputy director for paintings at the Royal Academy and in 1795 elected as director of the Academy. In 1786, he became a court painter to Charles IV. The pinnacle of his career was his appointment as "First Court Painter," which made him one of Spain's most important portraitists, bringing success and fame.
In the winter of 1792, Francisco de Goya suffered a stroke and became completely deaf. The illness altered his perception and was a turning point in his career. The artist viewed his surroundings more critically, dark colors predominated, and his style shifted to a more expressionistic variant of Rococo. During his recovery, the painter withdrew more and more, creating a series of cabinet paintings. An exaggerated realism bordering on caricature, drawings, and etchings were compiled by Goya into the series "Los caprichos," which he published in 1799. A dramatic reality in his political, social, and religious scenes was achieved by the artist using the aquatint technique, a printmaking method that achieves halftones through area etching. The new critical spirit was also expressed in the paintings "Madhouse," "Inquisition Scene," and "The Third of May 1808," where Goya depicted extreme human behavior.
During the Napoleonic rule, in 1808, Napoleon's brother Joseph replaced Charles IV as king. However, Goya retained his position as court painter. During the war, he portrayed Spanish and French generals. Drawings depicting the aftermath of the war were published by Goya under the name "The Disasters of War" (1810-1814). The series of images with brutal details strongly criticized the church and royal power, for which Francisco de Goya was labeled a "friend of the French."
For one of his most famous paintings, the nude "La Maja Desnuda" (1801), Goya had to answer to the Inquisition. The now seemingly harmless painting was the first nude in Spanish art to depict female pubic hair. Around 1820, Goya retired to the countryside and began a series of frescoes on the walls of his country house near Madrid, known as the "Black Paintings." One of the paintings from this series is the gruesome image "Saturn Devouring His Son."
In 1824, political persecution in Spain forced the artist into exile in France. Goya settled in Bordeaux, where he remained except for a brief trip to Madrid. He drew the world he observed around him and portraits of his exiled friends. In Bordeaux, Goya died at the age of 82 on April 16, 1828.
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