Goya

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The Liberal Spanish Court Painter, Francisco De Goya can be considered one of the most influential figures in Spanish art of the mid 18th, and early 19th Century. Goya had a lot of success early on, He became the Court painter to the Spanish Aristocracy, and after displaying his mastery became painter to the king in 1786. Francisco De Goya became one of the keen observers of the tragedies of war, in 1792 he fell victim to a mysterious illness, which almost killed him, and left him completely deaf. A mixture of the violence occurring in Spain at this time, and the loss of his hearing disillusioned this once optimistic court painter, and lead him to create arguably his most famous paintings. These paintings, Known as Goya’s Black paintings were unlike any other art in Spain at this time. They showed the realities of war from an unfiltered perspective, and were effectively able to transmit Goya’s disgust and disillusionment with Napoleon’s invasion, and general bloodshed in Spain at this time. In this essay I will describe aspects of Goya’s personal life, the significance of his work, and Goya’s reaction to different problems occurring in Spain at this time.
Although most commonly referred to as Goya, Francisco Goya’s full name was Fransisco Jose de Goya y lucientes. Goya was born in the Spanish kingdom of Aragon, and was a product of the mid 18th C to early 19th C. Goya had a happy childhood, and was from an upper middle class household. Goya and his parents both moved from Fuentetodos to Saragossa both Cities in Aragon. Showing signifigant artistic skill at a very young age, he took up an apprenticeship under painter Jose Luzan Martinez. An important aspect about Goya’s Upbringing is that he sp...

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...oya was only trying to depict the darker themes of Humanity in the only way that he could.
Fransisco Jose de Goya y lucientes is one of the most influential Spanish painters of all time. He is likely the most famous Spanish painter during the modernist movement, and his paintings and etchings are able to capture the spirit of this Era in Spanish, and European history. Not only will he document the positive aspects of Spain’s culture during the late 18th, and early 19th century, but he will dwell in the negative as well producing some of the most socially provocative works of all time. It can truly be said that Goya is a figure shrouded in Mystery, going from an optimistic court painter, to one of the most important war documentarist of all time. You must learn more about Goya, and his work In order to truly understand Spanish Society during the modernist age.

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