Francisco Goya

4 Self Portrait in the Workshop
4 St Gregory
4 The Duchess of Alba 
 Goya The Marquesa de la Solana 
4 Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga CGF
4 Don Ramon Satue

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
(b. March 30, 1746, Fuendetodos, Spain--d. April 16, 1828, Bordeaux, Fr.)

Consummately Spanish artist whose multifarious paintings, drawings, and engravings reflected contemporary historical upheavals and influenced important 19th- and 20th-century painters. Like Velázquez, Goya was a Spanish court painter whose best work was done apart from his official duties. Francisco Goya is known for his scenes of violence, especially those prompted by the French invasion of Spain. The series of etchings Los desastres de la guerra ("The Disasters of War", 1810-14) records the horrors of the Napoleonic invasion. His masterpieces in painting include The Naked Maja and The Clothed Maja (c. 1800-05). Goyaalso painted charming portraits such as Senora Sabasa Garcia.

For the bold technique of his paintings, the haunting satire of his etchings, and his belief that the artist's vision is more important than tradition, Goya is often called "the first of the moderns." His uncompromising portrayal of his times marks the beginning of 19th-century realism.

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746, in Fuendetodos, a village in northern Spain. The family later moved to Saragossa, where Goya's father worked as a gilder. At about 14 young Goya was apprenticed to Jose Luzan, a local painter. Later Francisco Goya went to Italy to continue his study of art. On returning to Saragossa in 1771, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes painted frescoes for the local cathedral. These works, done in the decorative rococo tradition, established Goya's artistic reputation. In 1773 Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes married Josefa Bayeu, sister of Saragossa artist Francisco Bayeu. The couple had many children, but only one--a son, Xavier--survived to adulthood.

From 1775 to 1792 Goya painted cartoons (designs) for the royal tapestry factory in Madrid. This was the most important period in his artistic development. As a tapestry designer, Goya did his first genre paintings, or scenes from everyday life.

The experience helped him become a keen observer of human behavior. Francisco Goya de (y Lucientes)  (José) was also influenced by neoclassicism, which was gaining favor over the rococo style. Finally, his study of the works of Velázquez in the royal collection resulted in a looser, more spontaneous painting technique. - Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes online oil painting, oil paintings Goya - Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes online oil painting Goya - online Spain oil paintings Goya biography and La maja desnuda, The Third of May 1808, The Second of May 1808, The Parasol.

At the same time, Goya achieved his first popular success. He became established as a portrait painter to the Spanish aristocracy. Francisco Goya was elected to the Royal Academy of San Fernando in 1780, named painter to the king in 1786, and made a court painter in 1789.

A serious illness in 1792 left Goya permanently deaf. Isolated from others by his deafness, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes became increasingly occupied with the fantasies and inventions of his imagination and with critical and satirical observations of mankind. Goya evolved a bold, free new style close to caricature. In 1799 he published the Caprichos, a series of etchings satirizing human folly and weakness. His portraits became penetrating characterizations, revealing their subjects as Goya saw them. In his religious frescoes Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes employed a broad, free style and an earthy realism unprecedented in religious art.

Goya served as director of painting at the Royal Academy from 1795 to 1797 and was appointed first Spanish court painter in 1799. During the Napoleonic invasion and the Spanish war of independence from 1808 to 1814, Goya served as court painter to the French. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes expressed his horror of armed conflict in The Disasters of War, a series of starkly realistic etchings on the atrocities of war. They were not published until 1863, long after Goya's death.

The titles of oil painting old master Goya (y Lucientes), Francisco (José) de