DOI issue:
No. 59 (January, 1902)
DOI article:Bensusan, S. L.: A note upon the paintings of Francisco José Goya
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22772#0207
Goya
and the result is La Aquadora, which belonged
to the late Senor Castelar. Youth, sport, fashion,
country grace have complete control over his
brush while he is dealing with them, and though
Goya the painter is at the back of them all, he
subdues his own personality and brings it within
proper limits. His pictures are a vivid repre-
sentation of what he has seen and felt, not an
impression coloured by an unvarying mood that
limited the range of vision. Some artists see a
little and see it accurately, others extend their
vision at the cost of its accuracy, but Goya at
some periods of his life was able to receive any
impression.
His moods were constantly changing. If he was
happy, life showed itself in guise of rarest beauty,
or, to write more correctly,
he saw only the beautiful
side of life. I believe that
the period wherein every-
thing was couleur de rose
was the season of his liaison
with the young and beauti-
ful Duchess of Alba. She
was the greatest lady and
he the greatest painter of
the Spanish Court. Their
affection was faced by many
difficulties, and . in those
days to fight was as
pleasant as to paint. He
triumphed over the
troubles, broke away from
the Countess Benaveute,
and followed the lady of
his choice into her exile at
San Lucar. In the happy
days when he was young
and popular, with all the
money and patronage he
needed, Goya saw life as
Watteau saw it ; the light
colour groupings of certain
scenes are conveyed in a
manner that brings back a
Spain that has lain for a
century dead.
Revolution came, the
flagof the Republic fluttered
across the Pyrenees, and
flauntedabovethePuertadel
Sol. Goya felt the intensity
of the strife that was around
him. Though he held aloof
from politics and remained an artist, he realised
every detail of the life that passed before his eyes.
His portraits of General Urrutia, and of that strong
Admiral Mazarredowho defied Napoleon, sum up for
us the people on whom Spain might have depended
so largely; his Joseph Buonaparte shows us why
Napoleon’s, Spanish plans collapsed, his Charles IV.
tells us how they came to be possible. If Goya
hated “ Ferdinand the Desired,” what greater
punishment was possible than the picture hanging
in the San Fernando Academy, where every trace
of the man’s worthlessness stands revealed. In
short, the artist saw the period of strife as truly
as he had seen the period of peace, and amid the
clamour of rival factions he worked steadily on
canvas, copper, and stone, even painted for the
“LA AQUADORA” BY GOYA
(From the Collection of the late Seizor Castelar)
J59
and the result is La Aquadora, which belonged
to the late Senor Castelar. Youth, sport, fashion,
country grace have complete control over his
brush while he is dealing with them, and though
Goya the painter is at the back of them all, he
subdues his own personality and brings it within
proper limits. His pictures are a vivid repre-
sentation of what he has seen and felt, not an
impression coloured by an unvarying mood that
limited the range of vision. Some artists see a
little and see it accurately, others extend their
vision at the cost of its accuracy, but Goya at
some periods of his life was able to receive any
impression.
His moods were constantly changing. If he was
happy, life showed itself in guise of rarest beauty,
or, to write more correctly,
he saw only the beautiful
side of life. I believe that
the period wherein every-
thing was couleur de rose
was the season of his liaison
with the young and beauti-
ful Duchess of Alba. She
was the greatest lady and
he the greatest painter of
the Spanish Court. Their
affection was faced by many
difficulties, and . in those
days to fight was as
pleasant as to paint. He
triumphed over the
troubles, broke away from
the Countess Benaveute,
and followed the lady of
his choice into her exile at
San Lucar. In the happy
days when he was young
and popular, with all the
money and patronage he
needed, Goya saw life as
Watteau saw it ; the light
colour groupings of certain
scenes are conveyed in a
manner that brings back a
Spain that has lain for a
century dead.
Revolution came, the
flagof the Republic fluttered
across the Pyrenees, and
flauntedabovethePuertadel
Sol. Goya felt the intensity
of the strife that was around
him. Though he held aloof
from politics and remained an artist, he realised
every detail of the life that passed before his eyes.
His portraits of General Urrutia, and of that strong
Admiral Mazarredowho defied Napoleon, sum up for
us the people on whom Spain might have depended
so largely; his Joseph Buonaparte shows us why
Napoleon’s, Spanish plans collapsed, his Charles IV.
tells us how they came to be possible. If Goya
hated “ Ferdinand the Desired,” what greater
punishment was possible than the picture hanging
in the San Fernando Academy, where every trace
of the man’s worthlessness stands revealed. In
short, the artist saw the period of strife as truly
as he had seen the period of peace, and amid the
clamour of rival factions he worked steadily on
canvas, copper, and stone, even painted for the
“LA AQUADORA” BY GOYA
(From the Collection of the late Seizor Castelar)
J59