GOYA: THE COMPLETE PRINTS

Francisco de Goya was one of the most innovative peintre-graveurs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, his etchings and lithographs masterpieces of modern printmaking. Trained in Spain and Italy and appointed First Court Painter to Charles IV early in his career, he brought the sensibilities of the Enlightenment into uneasy dialogue with the brutal realities of his time. Whether working in single sheets, like the harrowing The Garrotted Man or the sublime Seated Giant, or across his celebrated series - the satirical Caprichos, the unflinching Desastres de la Guerra, the dynamic Tauromaquia, and the nightmarish Disparates - Goya chronicled both the spirit and the shadows of a world in upheaval, where the individual was often crushed by violence, superstition, or power. These weren't just reflections on Spanish society: they were indictments, meditations, and warnings, etched in copperplates. This new landmark collection of 287 etchings and lithographs gathers Goya's complete printed oeuvre, including editions produced under his direct supervision, as well as rare state proofs from unpublished series, giving uncommon insight into his restless experimentation and meticulous control over the printmaking process. With a detailed commentary on each image and commanding essays by José Manuel Matilla and Anna Reuter, this volume is the culmination of more than two centuries of scholarly research and is a searing visual narrative. In several portraits of Ferdinand VII, painted after his restoration, Goya evoked - more forcefully than any description - the personality of the cruel tyrant, whose oppressive rule drove most of his friends and eventually Goya himself into exile. He painted few other official portraits, but those of his friends and relations and his Self-Portraits (1815) are equally subjective. Some of his religious compositions of this period, the Agony in the Garden and The Last Communion of St. Joseph of Calasanz (1819), are more suggestive of sincere devotion than any of his earlier church paintings. The enigmatic "black paintings" with which he decorated the walls of his country house, the Quinta del Sordo (1820-23) and Los proverbios or Los disparates, a series of etchings made at about the same time (though not published until 1864), are, on the other hand, nightmare visions in expressionist language that seem to reflect cynicism, pessimism, and despair.Text in English, French and German. Hardcover with golden cloth binding in slipcase, 24.3 x 30.4cm, super heavyweight 600 pages. New from Taschen.
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