A remarkable exhibition, Goya in Time of War, at Madrid’s Museo del Prado until July 13, 2008, includes works rarely seen by the public, rarely loaned and never viewed together. Gathered from private collections, churches and art museums around the world, 200 paintings and etchings by the Spanish painter capture both Goya’s mastery of technique and his reaction to the times in which he lived.
The exhibit is so compelling that even those who thought they didn’t care much about Goya are drawn into the tumbled world of 18th-century Spain. Ranging from portraits of his royal patrons to etchings satirizing the follies of mankind and the “Disasters of War,” the show also includes the two monumental paintings that form the best-known artistic record of the abortive May 2 uprising.
The 2nd of May, 1808 in Madrid and The 3rd of May, 1808 in Madrid have been restored and hang together as an arresting depiction of those two days. Although they were not painted from life or even personal memory of the events (they were painted 12 years later), their immediacy and drama are so real that they convey a deep sense of the scenes even 200 years later. This exhibit coincides with the 200th anniversary of the Spanish war of Independence.
The show begins with Goya’s return in 1794 from Cadiz, where he had been recovering from a long illness. He brought with him a series of cabinet paintings, works he could not have done under the pressure of his commissioned work. These included works like “Fire in the Night” a scene filled with people, but depicted with such virtuosity that each brushstroke is refined and essential to the scene.
Goya’s portraits are not only of the wealthy aristocracy whose commissions flowed to him in his position as Court Painter. They include penetrating views of people in all walks of life, some of his most interesting works. Art historians wonder if perhaps Goya’s loss of his hearing during the illness did not make him a keener observer of expression and gesture, accounting for these deeply perceptive portraits. Even in his commissioned works, although he is willing to flatter his patrons a bit, he creates poses and surroundings that are unconventional for his day.
The exhibit’s interpretive signage is excellent, and in English, following both the life of the artist and the world he painted, along with his evolving artistic technique. It follows the two parallel paths that Goya’s work took from that time: his commissioned work for the court and the aristocracy and those works that sprang from his imagination. In the latter group, the etchings series, Caprichios, examines the follies of humanity. At the same time, Goya completed works for a number of churches, some of which have been loaned for this exhibit – notably The Capture of Christ, from Toledo Cathedral.
Goya never liked the highly stylized academic painting style, and here we see him at a time when he was freed of their stifling rules, giving his genius full play. At the very least, this exhibit will whet your appetite to follow the trail of Goya’s works around Madrid, to see them in churches, museums and translated into tapestries that puts woven art into a completely new context.
Depending on whom you read, Goya was either the last of the old masters or the father of modern art. After seeing this exhibit, you’ll agree that he was both.
Goya in Time of War is on view at The Prado Tuesday-Sunday 9am to 8pm; tickets are 6 euros, free Tuesday-Saturday 6 to 8pm and Sunday 5 to 8pm.
