November 11, 2011

Anniversary of the theft of the 'Duke of Wellington'

The UK Guardian has an interesting look at the theft of Goya's Duke of Wellignton and the Mona Lisa. Article by Sandy Nairne:

"The 21st of August is the anniversary of two shocking art thefts: Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa stolen from the Louvre 100 years ago, and Francisco de Goya's The Duke of Wellington taken from the National Gallery, London, exactly 50 years later. The two thefts share more than the same date. Both thieves concealed the famous paintings for several years without being caught and both decided to return them: the Duke was deposited in the left-luggage office of New Street station in Birmingham. More significantly, once they had confessed, the thieves puzzled the authorities by not matching the expected profile of being debonair figures such as EA Hornung's Arthur Raffles, or Thomas Crown (whether Steve McQueen or Pierce Brosnan).

When in July 1965 a 61-year-old retired truck driver announced at West End Central police station that he had stolen the Goya, it was hard for the police to take Kempton Bunton seriously as he differed so much from the presumed image of whoever it was who had sent a sequence of notes, written in capitals, to various newspapers.

Although the Mona Lisa theft is considerably more famous, the loss of the Goya is significant. It was a fundamental shock to the National Gallery: its first ever theft, and the painting had been taken only 19 days after going on display.

...Reality and fiction often overlap in cases of art theft. However the link between the two was made very specific when in Dr No, the first of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels to be produced as a film in 1962, the evil scientist's underwater lair at Crab Key in Jamaica provides the setting for an unexpected encounter. Sean Connery, as Bond, pauses as he walks through the dining room to admire a portrait on an easel – it is Goya's The Duke of Wellington. The image fuels the commonly held view that thefts of great works of art are carried out at the behest of criminal collectors – a notion that has rarely been found to be true.

Even though a detailed account of how Bunton accomplished the theft was published in 1977, posthumously, it is possible that he was not the thief. He might have used the painting to promote his cause and confessed to cover up for another."

For more info about the painting "Duke of Wellington" go here.

August 17, 2011

Updated Pages on Josefa Bayeu

As part of the ongoing installation of our new web site design, pages are being updated: New Josefa Bayeu 1814 Oil Portrait Page and Josefa Bayeu black chalk portrait of 1805

August 12, 2011

Print exhibit in Houston "Acid on Metal" to feature Goya, Rembrandt, others

Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas, USA - Sep 11, 2011 - Nov 27, 2011

From the new release:

Acid on Metal: The Art of Etching and Aquatint chronicles the development of etching from the 16th century, through the golden ages of Rembrandt van Rijn and Francisco de Goya, to the medium’s revitalization and modernization under Pablo Picasso, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and contemporary masters such as Brice Marden and Richard Stankiewicz. Prints by Rembrandt, including Jupiter and Antiope, display the master’s fluid handling and experimental style that inspired generations of printmakers to follow. Goya, who created works of a sharp satirical and political nature, showcases his mastery of aquatint with The Cid Campeador Attacking a Bull with His Lance.

The second in a series of print exhibitions at the MFAH examining the varied techniques in printmaking, Acid on Metal focuses on the intaglio printmaking process of etching and the related technique of aquatint, methods that require the biting of a metal plate with acid to incise a design. Exploring various etching techniques as unique vehicles of expression, this show features a selection of more than 50 works on paper drawn primarily from the MFAH collection. Also on view are tools, plates, and books to enhance the audience’s understanding of the creative force of etching from the 16th century to today.

Museum Fine Arts Page on Print Exhibit

August 10, 2011

85 Year Duchess of Alba to sell art collection

Reuters reports on the coming nuptials of Duchess Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart who is reportedly selling off her collection of art by Goya, Velazquez, El Greco, Rembrandt, and others:

Spain’s wealthy Duchess of Alba, 85, who is believed to have the most noble titles of any living person, has distributed her vast fortune and art collection to her six children in order to marry a 60-year-old civil servant, Reuters reports.

The twice-widowed duchess, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, is attempting to prove to her family that her suitor, Alfonso Diez, is not interested in her sizable real-estate, art collection and wealth, which is believed to stand at between 600 million and 3.5 billion euros ($4.9 billion). Her children have reportedly urged her to call off the marriage."

Story at the New York Observer

February 18, 2011

Portrait of Josefa Bayeu page updated

Update Feb 2011: WriterJacek Dehnel sent an email mentioning an important error in the previous text about dating this image (see below):

[This site wrote] "Evidense about the clothing style and the lighting in the painting dates the image to 1815, a time when Goya's wife Josefa would have been much older than the apparent youthfullness shown here" and "Josefa would have been a much older woman in 1815 than what is presented in this image"

I would like to point out, that Josefa not only would look much older in 1815, but also that she was already dead for 3 years (she died in 1812)."

SEE THE UPDATED JOSEFA BAYEU PORTRAIT PAGE HERE

January 7, 2011

Apple now offering a "Goya app" for iPod, iPad

As more people move their digital needs and toys to handheld devices, the catalogs of the great master artists will inevitably move their as well. Apple's new software tool for looking at the Goya images sells for $1.99 USD.

[Below] Screenshot of the Apple iTunes store offering the Goya app:

December 15, 2010

Taft Museum showing full set of Los Caprichos through January 2011

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July 24, 2010

"Goya Hill" saved from development

Francisco de Goya: Pilgrimage to San Isidro, painted 1820 -1823 View enlargement

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July 20, 2010

Chemicals, X-Rays, and Surprises

National Gallery: Close Examinations

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April 6, 2010

Article on the model in Goya's "la maja vestida"

Goya: la maja vestida

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Artist Gary Arseneau Decries 'forged' Goya etchings

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Prado has 14 pieces 'super digitized' - Works of Goya, Rembrandt and Velasquez

Google creating a 'gigapixel' gallery of famous art

Interesting article about the technology now being used to photograph detail of paintings from the Prado collection at a resolution not ever used before, far outdistancing the previous limits of digital and analog cameras. Read here at the Vromo blog in original spanish or in translation to english.

Also, read the article at the UK Telegraph (english) discussing the Google system and what they're doing.

Goya in Ho Chi Mihn City, Vietnam

33 images from The Disasters of War presented

A certain amount of irony is probably unintentional in this exhibit of 33 images from Los Desastres appearing in Ho Chi Mihn city as part of the celebrations for the 1,000 anniversary of the city Hanoi and the 35th anniversary of the liberation of the South. The exhibit totals 46 pieces altogether from the Hans Guggenheim collection. The event is sponsored by the Ho Chi Mihn City Fine Arts Association and the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association. Complete article online at the Vietnam News Agency.

Goya Digital Catalog nearing completion

The digital catalogue raisonné of Goya works we reported on from February 26 is nearing completion. The cover has been released. This comprehensive 'alternative' catalog effort is led by Prof. Amparo Sacristan of Mataro University in Spain:

Professor Antonio Pereles has died

I received news from the goyadiscovery site that after a long illness, Professor Pereles has passed away. Below is a spanish language video of an interview with the professor about Goya. I am searching for an obituary of Mr. Pereles that I can link to and possibly provide on this web site.

Goya Los Caprichos exhibit in the Lithuania Capitol

The English language newspaper The Baltic Times carries a review of the current Goya Los Caprichos exhibit in the Lithuania Capitol of Vilnius.The 78 etching presentation (A complete set of Los Caprichos contains 80) is being shown at the Vilnius Picture Gallery, which is situated on Didzioji Street 4 in Vilnius’ Old Town.The etching set is from an 1806 edition, and an interesting note is made about their condition and why there are only 78 pieces:

These etchings were shown for the first time in the fall of 2009, in Riga. In 1930, the etchings were brought to the Riga City Art Museum by some unknown art collector. The documentation of art purchases was not so strict in those times and the name of the seller remained unknown. The original Los Caprichos has 80 etchings. The museum in Riga purchased 78.

According to Daiga Upeniece, head of the foreign art department of the Latvian National Museum of Art, the two etchings, which were not bought, are extremely scary - they show torture of children, and could be the reason why they were not bought by the museum.

The prints are sensitive to light. This is why, after the exhibition in Vilnius, which will be closed on May 18, the etchings will ‘rest’ in storage at the Latvian National Museum of Art for the next two years.

Update on our Black Paintings page

A new diagram showing the position of the 'Black Paintings' on the walls of the Quinta de Goya. A large image of the diagram is online on the page about Xavier de Salas' material on the Black Paintings.

Digital catalogue raisonné of Goya works underway

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Alberta Canada exhibit of "Double Bill" Goya's Disasters of War and Los Caprichos

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A defense of el Coloso (The Giant) authorship by Sarah Symmons

Dr Sarah Symmons addressed the issue of animal anatomy in el Coloso in a brief article at the Spanish language news site ABC.ES. The 'clumsy' anatomy of bulls and donkeys was used as part of the basis for the Prado Museum's demotion of Colosus from the list of offically recognized Goya artworks.

When the horses were important, like in the Bullfighting, Goya painted them exquisitely . But when the horses performed a marginal function in a composition, for example in the Picture of Fernando VII, they assumed a clumsy, inanimate quality.

Read the entire article (in Spanish) at abc.es

Review of Goya Etching Show in Dallas

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Goya Ink Wash Drawings sell for $1,048,000 USD

Sotheby Old Masters auction in New York on January 24, 2010

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"Colossos" Represents the imperial power of Napoleon

From a speach by the UK Foreign Office Minister, Chris Bryant, addressing the Latin American Forum at casa de America in Madrid on September 14, 2009. The event was the Latin American Forum.

From the UK Foreign Commonwealth Office government web site:

I am not sure whether you know Goya's painting, The Colossus. It depicts a giant who is trampling over a landscape of destroyed villages. For Goya, the colossus then was Napoleon's imperialism, which he also presented in his paintings Second of May and Third of May. And their message still holds true today. The relationship between Latin America and Europe cannot be a neo-colonial or imperialistic relationship. It must be a relationship of equals.

More information about Goya's El Coloso

June 1, 2009

Los Caprichos Plates 31 and 59 at Auction – June 11

Goya etching prints from Los Caprichos (plates 31 and 59) are going on auction at the Galerie Kornfeld in Bern, Switzerland. They are estimating the sale at $6,774 (USD) for each individual print. The auction also includes six other etchings from La Touromaquia ("bullfighting" series) with estimate prices at approximately $5,000 USD (Note: the images int the Kornfeld catalog seem to had at least one error, for the print Lluvie de Toro. The representative image seems to be wrong.)

Plate 31 English title: "She prays for her" – apparent reference to 'prey/pray' and dealing with the relationship between a prostitute and her Duenna. Spanish title: Ruega por ella.

Plate 57 English title: "And still they don't go away." Spanish title: Y aun no se van!

Auction information:

Auction 247: Art of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Part II
Oil Paintings, Watercolours, Drawings, Sculptures, Prints, Ilustrated Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries as well as Contemporary Art - more than 700 numbers
Auction sale on Thursday, 11th of June, 9.30 a.m. (No. 176-513) and 2.15 p.m. (No. 514-880):

Francisco de Goya
Title: Ruega por ella, pl. 31 (from Los Caprichos)
Medium etching, aquatint, drypoint and copper engraving
Size 7.9 x 5.8 in. / 20.1 x 14.8 cm.
Year 1798 - 1799
Cat. Rais. Harris, 66/III/1
Sale Of Galerie Kornfeld: Thursday, June 11, 2009 [Lot 312]
Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, Teil II
Estimate 7,500 CHF (6,774 US$)
Auction Info. Galerie Kornfeld
Laupenstrasse 41
Bern , 3008 Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)31 381 46 73
Fax: +41 (0)31 382 18 91
Click here to email auction house
Bid Dept. Tel: +41 (0)31 381 4673
Click here to email the bid dept..

Regarding the La Touromaquia prints: an 1877 reproduction (from L'Art) sold at auction with Heritage for $717.00 in March 2009.

More information about the Goya Caprichos Prints

3 Goya Drawings auction at twice the pre-sale estimate

This item about the Christies Auction has moved to this page here.

New York Times on Goya 'War' Exhibit; also El Coloso

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"Colossus" by an assistant, claims Prado

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Two Concurrent Goya Exhibits running at Prado

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Goya Robbers Head to Jail

Ben Sisario at the New York Times writes about the legal consequences of hijacking Goya's "Cart" Painting:

Two men who stole a valuable Goya painting are going to federal prison, The Associated Press reported. The men, Steven Lee Olson and Roman Szurko, stole “Children With a Cart,” from a transport truck in November 2006 as its drivers spent the night at a motel in Bartonsville, Pa. The work was on its way to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York from the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. The painting, from 1778, was insured for $1 million.

Further reading on the failed Goya painting heist.

3 "Lost" Goya drawings to be sold at Christie's July 8

This page has been moved here

JUNE 5, 2008

South Florida Authentication Efforts at Truthinart.org

A new organization coming from Miami, with an emphasis on Goya artworks, is organizing. Their web site is online but has little information. However, I have been told that they are in the early stages of putting together an exhibit of rare Goya art owned by private collectors.

truthinart.org

JUNE 5, 2008

New York Times Review "Disasters of War"

A local SoHo exhibit of a 4th edition set of 'Disasters' has been reviewed at the New York Times by Karen Rosenberg:

Francisco de Goya’s print series “The Disasters of War,” an extended portrait of the cruelty and aggression that accompanied Spain’s War of Independence in the early 1800s, has been used and abused by artists wishing to plumb the depths of human nature. (In a notorious example, the brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman purchased a rare edition and drew clowns and puppies over Goya’s images of victims.)

A complete fourth edition, published in 1906 by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, is now on view in SoHo. It will deliver a shock to anyone who thinks that the “Disasters” have been overexposed, or that black-and-white etchings can’t convey terror and intimidation with as much force as more modern mediums.

The exhibit runs through August 2008.

New York Times Goya Review

JUNE 4, 2008

University of Iowa Exhibit includes "Disasters"

The Helena P. and Ignacio V. Ponseti collection is on view in Iowa City at the University Pentacrest Art Museum. The show includes 6 selections from the 80-print Disasters of War series.

University of Iowa Press Release