A
Review
The
first impression from seeing
such a variety of Goya paintings
gathered in one place is the enormity
of many of these famous works.
They fill whole walls and spill
over into peripheral sight. Seeing
(for example) The Grape Harvest
in a book or catalog gives no
projection of the largeness of
it, the whole dominating physical
size.
A
secondary impression following
the impact of dimension is the
finish on many of these "official"
works of Spain's court painter.
There is a high, refined gloss
over these images, with a great
deal of attention given to balancing
the focal center (typically a
group of figures) against the
hazier, softer background (usually
a soft-focused landscape). Between
the sheer size and the scope of
minute attention given to all
the elements in the painting,
one comes away with an idea of
Goya's energy and professional
determination to excel in his
office. Goya's ambitions aside,
that he could complete such large
pieces with such attention to
quality gives a telling contrast
to the ideas in his smaller, private
paintings, which show a cruder,
more immediate style.
And
there is a very good selection
of such works in the exhibit.
There are a number of portraits,
plus the loosely-themed personal
works. The exhibit includes several
rooms dedicated to etchings &
drawings, with the selection of
preliminary drawings for the etchings
particularly interesting, since
they do not show up in the usual
Goya literature very often.
The
catalog published for the
exhibit is very well done, and
the image reproduction good. The
text includes much detail for
each painting, and the though
laced with editorial comments
on various contemporary issues
(e.g., the condition of women
in Spain) it should serve as a
good window into the mindset for
future generations about those
who put together this exhibit
collection. Also, the current
arguments about authorship on
some disputed paintings is given
brief explanation, and much of
the reasoning in fashion toward
explaining Goya's personality
is also mentioned, without any
heavy-handed psychiatry, which
is good.
Seeing
these paintings in the pseudo-mausoleum
atmosphere of the National Gallery
detracts a bit from the warmth
in a good number of the images
(and the tapestries, too, which
in historical value help explain
what exactly Goya was up to during
the first half of his career),
but on the whole the opportunity
to see such a terrific collection
of works in one place is quite
an event, and the organizers must
have had to do a great deal of
work to mount it. Congratulations
are due them for such a feat.
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