Maybe you were waiting for something a bit more original, a little bit more obscure, but Goya IS my favourite painter (up there with Hieronymus Bosch, whose work can also be found in the Prado Museum), so I really have no choice.
What I find interesting about Goya is the range of his work – from wonderfully frothy paintings of picnics in the Pradera de San Isidro
to his Dark Paintings, including my favourite Saturno devorando a un hijo (Saturn Devouring a Son).
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Like all great artists, Goya commented on the world around him. He reflected the horrors of war in his series Los desastres de la guerra (The War Disasters) where he shows the effects on society and the individual of the Independence War that Spain fought against the French from 1808 to 1814. One of his best known paintings, currently at the Prado Museum in Madrid is the Fusilamientos del tres de mayo (3rd May Executions), which shows Napoleon’s troops executing the Spanish population that had rebelled against them in Madrid in 1808. The painting saw the light in 1814, after the French were expelled from Spain.
Through his Caprichos, a series of 80 prints, he laughed at ignorance, superstition and society in general. (To see the whole series, visit wikipedia.) By the way, if you teach any kind of performance art (or creative writing) and ever need inspiration, these drawings are wonderfully surreal and inspiring.
Nobody saw us.
Francisco de Goya was one of Spain’s most prolific painters. Born in 1746, he painted over 2000 works of art, including paintings, sketches, drawings, portraits and self-portraits until his death in 1828.
He left an amazing legacy and through his varied artistic styles, he showed that variety is the spice of life.
The A to Z of Spanish Culture 
Yes, G is for Goya. I guess there are any number of Garcias who could stake a claim for the letter G and the ever-odious Guti would no doubt think he was an obvious choice. (Famous in his own back-passage) but Goya is a true world figure. Thanks for the links too. Enjoyed.
Phew, looks like I made the right choice! 🙂
Just love Goya,his life,his paintings and his Spanishness!
Very true – His roots seem embedded in his work, even though his stles are so varied.
My friends José and Licia WERE ispired by goy a for this play!
http://thelatc.org/seasons/past-events/east-of-broadway-2010/the-slumber-of-reason/
Many thanks, Mo – for stopping by and for the link to your friend’s show. Looks like a lot of fun. I’ve posted about it in the Devising and Physical Theatre blog too. http://devisingandphysicaltheatre.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/inspiration-in-action/
Hi Pilar, thanks for passing on the info about José and Licia´s show. I´ll look out the video and photos of the play but in the meantime here´s more on these two artists and the Latina dance group.
http://josegarciadavis.com/Site%201/Welcome.html andhttp://www.latinadanceproject.com/bio_jose_garcia_davis.html.
Jose´s been my friend since we were both in our twenties and he´s absolutely wonderful as a performer and a person.
Hi Pilar,
Here´s some promo photos for “Slumber of Reason.” I thought the costumes were absolutely fabulous.
I´m sure Jose (he doesn´t use the accent) or Licia would be happy to full you in if you wanted to write further on the subject.
Just say I sent you!
Enjoy the photos,
Mo x (Jose doesn´t know me as Mo but as Maureen!).
On Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 12:54 PM, The A to Z of Spanish Culture wrote:
> ** > Pilar Orti commented: “Many thanks, Mo – for stopping by and for the > link to your friend’s show. Looks like a lot of fun. I’ve posted about it > in the Devising and Physical Theatre blog too. > http://devisingandphysicaltheatre.wordpress.com/2012/09/06/inspiration-in-action/” >
Thanks!
Hi Maureen – can’t see the pics!