Francisco Goya as Representative of Modern Art Essay

The culture of the museum, as well as its patrons, determines the vision of modern art. However, it is limited not simply due to the fact that tit negates or contradicts the aberrant and the other, but also because the preferences and interests of the patrons of the modern art have been peculiar or unusual with all the familiar concerns and obsessions of modern artists themselves. This consists of their concern with radical difference, their search for alternative forms of representation and their aspirations to demystify the classicism that inspired and shaped European art† (Doyle and Winkiel, 36). In order to understand the concerns of modern art through the artists, it is best to look at the life of Franciso Goya and the influences which shaped his brilliant art and masterpieces which gives emphasis to his right to be considered as the representative of Modern Art. In March 30, 1746, a young boy, future artist was born in Fuendetodos, which is considered to be a small town which is located close to Saragossa. The parents of this young boy, who was named Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes were Jose Francisco de Paula and Gracia Lucientes. The former was a gilder while the latter was a member of a poor but noble family. Even if Francisco Goya was only fourteen years old, he already took a four-year apprenticeship under the tutelage of Jose Luzan, who was considered to be an undistinguished who honed his painter skills through rigorous studies in Naples. Francisco Goya was part of the competitions which were sponsored by the Real Academia de San Fernando. It took place in Madrid in the year 1770 to 1771, but during that time, he was not that triumphant or victorious. In addition to this, when he participated in a competition which was sponsored by the Academia de Parma, he was only able to receive or obtain an honorable mention. However, this honorable mention cannot be taken for granted because it helped him receive pious commissions. These commissions were mainly from Saragossa, where Francisco Goya decided to settle by June in the year 1771. Franciso Goya’s wife is Madrid Josefa Bayeu, and they got married in July 25 1773. Madrid Josefa Bayeu is the sister of Franciso Bayeu, who is known to be the leading Spanish artist at the court. Josefa Bayeu was a very big help for Franciso Goya’s career. She helped him receive a position at the royal tapestry factory, for which Franciso Goya executed sixty-three cartoons by1792, wherein thirty nine are considered to be created before 1780. Franciso Goya has a competitive advantage against other painters because he is able to effectively use vivid colors and intense luminosity in his cartoons. In July 1778, Franciso Goya was able to publish his first serious groups of prints. Nine etchings in these prints were after the paintings created by Velasquez which can be found in the royal collection. In May 1780, he was unanimously voted or elected to the Academia in Madrid. His â€Å"Christ on the Cross† (Prado, Madrid), a conventional neoclassical painting was a great help for Franciso Goya to receive such position. In March 1785, he was chosen to be the deputy director of the Academia (Brown and Mann, 3) Approaching the end of the year in 1792, Francisco Goya suffered a mysterious illness which disabled him for much of the following year. This mysterious illness also caused him to become permanently deaf and eventually, reevaluate his goals as an artist. Francisco Goya’s powerful social commentary which is the result of his developed fantasy and invention can be observed in â€Å"Caprichos†. â€Å"Caprichos† is a series of eighty etchings which Franciso Goya offered for sale. Francisco Goya’s brilliant use of realistic observation mixed with brutal distortion creates an extraordinary power to the scenes which Goya had drawn from both the daily life and his own imagination. However, the sardonic criticisms that was received by Franciso Goya regarding his works, especially those from the existing social order, made him decide to remove them for sale. Between 1797 and 1798, Franciso Goya was able to receive the commission for the frescoes in the hermitage church which is located in San Antonio de la Florida in Madrid. He was able to receive this because of the help of Jovellanos who was the Minister of Grace and Justice, from November 1797 until the August of 1799. Franciso Goya inverted the customary baroque display or arrangement by illustrating the angels under the dome in which he characterized Saint Anthony conducting a miracle. Unlike the works of the other artists, â€Å"vigorous brushwork and the definitions of the figures primarily in terms of large, flat planes of intense color, unprecedented in church decorative schemes† were observed in Franciso Goya’s works. (Brown and Mann, 4) In 1819, Francisco Goya suffered a relapse of his illness. He again endured this illness which nearly cost him his life. This traumatic experience of Francisco Goya can be observed or is most likely reflected in the fourteen Black Paintings which he created in Prado, Madrid, in the year 1820 or 1823. Using oil as a medium, he painted directly on the walls of two rooms in the country house on the periphery of Madrid, generally known as Quinto del Sordo which is translated as the house of the deaf man. It was named after him, â€Å"the deaf man†, because he had purchased it in February 1819. His rough handling of paint and expressionistic distortions intensify or gave emphasis the violence of his works, particularly in the image of â€Å"Saturn Devouring His Son†. Several attempts have been made just to interpret Franciso Goya’s works, but these highly personal paintings challenged and disregarded any rational explanation (Brown and Mann, 5). Designing tapestries during the time of Francisco Goya was not a highly regarded task. In addition to this, it is not even well paid. However, designing tapestries offered Francisco Goya a chance or the break to start in the big city. The commissions that he received from designing tapestries came directly from the Court. After five years, Franciso Goya presented his designs to the King and the Crown Prince and Princesses in person. In this manner, he had the privilege of kissing their majesties’ hands, which is definitely one good indication or sign for a man who is eager to rise to the top (Hagen, 7). The prince, Charles IV, was particularly fascinated with the hunted, broadly with themes of the hunting. As a result, Francisco Goya mainly designed hunting scenes. When the heir to the throne took Maria Luisa of Parma as his wife, Francisco Goya’s art was changed. Maria Luisa wanted her tapestries to show the popular diversions, or scenes which show ordinary people enjoying pleasurable pursuits, which the temperamental Italian princess was not allowed to indulge at the strict Spanish court. Charles IV’s wife yearned to surround herself with light-hearted scenes which depicts everyday life also influenced the trend which is being acted out in the theaters of Madrid; â€Å"between the acts of classical dramas, the public would be entertained with comic scenes from the daily lives of the lower classes† (Hagen, 7). Not like the religious or pious themes of Franciso Goya’s Saragossa work and the hunting scenes which he created for the Crown Prince, the work of art which he created for the Maria Luisa now provided Francisco Goya the motivation. It also gave Francisco Goya the chance to illustrate how people behaved and how they treated each other, as well as the opportunity to show his representation of these things in his own perspective. Moreover, it can be said that he expounds these themes humorously and light-heartedly, which he would later present in a completely different light. From this early stage or phase stems the self-portrait of Francisco Goya, in which he is looking neither skeptical nor gloomy. It is not actually a self-portrait of Francisco Goya, but the broad, flat face with high cheek-bones, undoubtedly shows that it is him. Unmistakably at a â€Å"novillada†, Francisco Goya can be observed to be standing with a number of other young men situated near a bull. â€Å"Novillada† means a bloodless fight with a young bull. Goya himself testified to have engaged in such risk-laden chase or recreation, though speculations that it is just a rumor he spread himself are present. Considering the fact that bullfighting fascinated him right up to the end of his life, it would look that it is not out of his character. A strong indication or support for this would be the time when he signed one of his letters using the title â€Å"Franciso de los Toros†, which is considered or translated as â€Å"Francisco of the bulls† (Hagen, 10). Francisco Goya, however, was not only familiar with the bulls but also the majos and the majas or the men and women from the lower quarters of Madrid. These majos or majas unlike the other residents of Madrid, have a particular style of dress and conduct. The typical majo is said to be proud, easily offended and quick to pull a knife. In addition to this, he is relished with eye-catching costume and, as far as he could help it, the majos never worked. This unwillingness to perform any type of work at all known to be widespread among Spanish men in the 18th century, dated back to the time when Columbus discovered America. The new colonies sent their gold back to the king. The king in return, gave it to his favorites and his far too many officials and officers. Although this â€Å"Golden Age† was long gone, the pretension to idleness and redundancy had remained, even among those classes who had never directly profited from the king’s gold (Hagen, 10). The female pendant to the majo was the maja. The maja is considered to be a woman with passionate nature who took a delight in being provocative. In his representations or interpretations of majas, Francisco Goya challenges the concerns and issues of class and race. He also emphasizes the power of the gaze itself. Based on the writings of the French Ambassador of Spain in 1788, according to the accounts of J. E. de Bourgoing, the majas are indeed considered as the lower class but, for the bewitched majo, the maja was â€Å"the most seducing priestess that ever presided at the altars of Venus† (Mahon, 42). The limitation of the real majas would be the majism. Majism is the sub-cultural style of life and the way of dress, considered to be a significant aspect during the revolutionary call for democracy in the nineteenth century. Francisco Goya’s â€Å"The Naked Maja† (1798-1805) as well as her counterpart, â€Å"The Clothed Maja† (1800-1803), represents the power of the majism during their times. For the â€Å"Naked Maja† and the â€Å"Clothed Maja†, they boldly or shamelessly face the viewer. The majas posed heir hands in order to maximize the erotic effect which they inflict on their viewers. The maja’s fashionably coquettish shoes, shimmering dress and lace bolero in the â€Å"Clothed Maja† appears all the more tantalizing or enticing as compared to her bare flesh which can be observed in the â€Å"Naked Maja†. She is not, however, idealized or innocent due to her charms. Rather, she is a daringly erotic portrait or representation in an era when nudes are considered to be illegal or banned in Spain because of the influences of the all-powerful Church on erotic fashion or masterpieces. The erotic messages conveyed by fashion involve the interplay of their whole body and the perspective of both sexes. More particularly, it can be said that they are most acutely focused in the proportions of the female torso. It is the most considerable field of fashionable alteration and at the same time the one where the shape of fashion most willingly comes into view to wear the genuine look of nature. The placement, the depth and width of the pelvis, the relative girth and length of the rib cage, size and shape of the breasts, the set of the neck and shoulders, and the exact disposition of its fleshy upholstery, front and back, all these, along with the styles of posture both seated and upright, are continuously shifting visually, according to the way clothes have been variously considered in history to help the female body give the impression of being more beautiful and natural on their terms. Nude art, inescapably dedicated or devoted to Eros, recognizes those terms. Francisco Goya’s â€Å"Naked Maja† and â€Å"Clothed Maja† in Prado, Madrid are generally recognized as erotic. They are considered as such not just because of the shadowy suggestion of pubic hair. One of the most significant characteristics of the naked maja’s body is that it gives the impression of showing the effects of corseting without the corset, which on the other hand, is very positively present in the clothed maja. The high, widely separated breasts and rigid spine of the recumbent naked maja are as erotic as her pubic fuzz or sexy smile. Her breasts certainly disobey the law of gravity and her legs, comfortable or accustomed to emerging through the light-weight and to a certain extent, narrow skirts of the day, are self-consciously disposed for effect, comparable to that of a twentieth-century woman. It is the definite effect of her missing fashionable dress or costume that makes her a purposely or deliberately a sexual image (Hollander, 91). In this way, Francisco Goya’s majas can be observed within the context of his 1796-1797 â€Å"Caprichos†. The term â€Å"capricho† was coined after the Italian word â€Å"capriccio†, which means â€Å"a caprice or jeu d’esprit† outside the usual rules. In the year 1790s, capricho was referred particularly to the arts and to the power of imaginative and creative initiative and resourcefulness rather than observance of the traditions, norms or custom. Locally, the term was also utilized to illustrate or exemplify the moral points created in Spanish comedies. Francisco Goya, being a a keen theatre-goer, it is this understanding of the term that critics often use when reading his art. The paintings of the majas are part of this â€Å"capricho spirit† too, as they refer to the personal and the political. Goya create distortions in his patron, the Duchess of Alba and her courtly lifestyle wherein the Duchess was rumored or thought to be the model of the Naked Maja, due to the speculation that both have rich black hair. On the other hand, Francisco Goya’s â€Å"Caprichos† illustrate his faith in the power of fantasy not merely to lead art into a brave new world but to help depict and represent the hidden desires and fears of a politically corrupt society, and so to enlighten it too (Mahon, 43). Francisco Goya has been renowned as one of the greatest artists of all times and as an essential and a pivotal figure in the expansion and maturity of modern art. Francisco Goya’s utilization and management of the textual qualities of paint and the expressive and emotional intensity of much of his imagery to a great extent influenced later painters. Impressionists, romantics, symbolists, realists, and surrealists have all considered him as their spiritual ancestor. Francisco Goya’s oeuvre, which has been considered or contemplated to be consisted of 688 (Gassier and Wilson) to772 (Gudiol) paintings, is as diverse as it is large (Brown and Mann, 5). Francisco Goya also represents additional feminine sensitiveness and it is imbued or drenched with temperament. This is the quality of Francisco Goya’s impressionism which makes it modern (Caffin, 203). Francisco Goya as an artist is perceived and understood as being critical or even disapproving of conventional portraiture, which is considered as socially elevating, consistentand in large measure, banal. This analysis of the recipes of portraiture is frequently construed as an analysis of class-based society itself. Tradition in portraiture is not at all monolithic, if one considers the work of Francisco Goya where the communicative and expressive range inside the genre is adequately or sufficiently grand to act as precedent or example for almost any modern portrait (Brettell, 169). Works Cited Brettell, Richard R. Modern Art, 1851-1929: Capitalism and Representation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Brown, Jonathan, and Richard Mann. Spanish Paintings of the Fifteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. USA: National Gallery of Art, 1990. Caffin, Charles Henry. The Story of Spanish Painting. Michigan: University of Michigan, 1910. Doyle, Laura, and Laura A. Winkiel. Geomodernisms: Race, Modernism, Modernity. USA: Indiana University Press, 2005.