Collect an etching by the acclaimed Spanish artist Francisco Goya from the Los Caprichos series!
This is number 19 of the series. This etching is one of the most cruel and ruthless compositions whose true meaning is very difficult and complicated to give. Authors such as Rodríguez Torres (1998: 506-511) interpret this work as an allegorical representation of politics. While others relate the scene of the picture with prostitution and / or with the satirical representation of the successive lovers of Queen María Luisa. The theme of bird hunting is sometimes used in emblem literature to illustrate a love satire. This very image is part of the permanent collection of many museums, such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City), Minneapolis Institute of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Saint Louis Art Museum, The Toledo Museum of Art, Norton Simon Museum, Chazean Museum of Art, Hammer Museum, Museum del Prado (Madrid, Spain), Royal Academy of Art (London, England), British Museum (London, England).
Details:
Los caprichos (The Caprices) is a set of 80 prints in aquatint and etching created by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya in 1797–1798 and published as an album in 1799. The prints were an artistic experiment: a medium for Goya's condemnation of the universal follies and foolishness in the Spanish society in which he lived. The criticisms are far-ranging and acidic; the images expose the predominance of superstition, the ignorance and inabilities of the various members of the ruling class, pedagogical shortcomings, marital mistakes and the decline of rationality. Some of the prints have anticlerical themes. Goya described the series as depicting "the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices which custom, ignorance or self-interest have made usual".
Artist bio:
Francisco Jos de Goya Lucientes (March 30, 1746 - April 16, 1828) was an Aragonese Spanish painter and printmaker. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history. He has been regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. The subversive and subjective element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, notably Manet and Picasso.