DOI Artikel:
Kossowska, Irena: Goya czy Grottger: dwa cykle o wojnie$nElektronische Ressource
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27558#0089
GOYA CZY GROTTGER. DWA CYKLE O WOJNIE
87
to bring together all of Goya’s graphic cycles. He was known for being an excellent connois-
seur of Goya’s oeuvre.
In November 1902 Manggha organised in the Sukiennice exhibition hall in Cracow a show
presenting three cycles devoted to the subject matter of war. By juxtaposing works accom-
plished by Goya, Artur Grottger and Valere Bernard Jasieński brought about an intellectual
war, a crucial discussion about art and aesthetic judgement. He anticipated the exhibit with two
articles of his own. The first one concerned Goya’s graphic output, while in the second one
Jasieński questioned the established artistic standing of Grottger, a famed Polish late romantic.
He realised that The War by Grottger lacked the powerfull expressiveness and emotional
intensity of the other cycles executed by the artist. The critic pointed out the irrelevance of
its formal qualities to the significance and tragic character of the subject matter. In his view,
the imagination of the artist lost its strength in descriptive details and anegdotes, weakened
thanks to allegorical devices. In the opinion of other Polish critics the episodic and concise
description of the war incidents was the major weakness of Desastres.
The discussion was revived in 1903 in Warsaw when Aleksander Krywult opened in his
gallery an exhibition of Goya’s graphic oeuvre. In an article titled Goya or Grottger Kazimierz
Broniewski summed up the conclusions of the exciting polemic: “The opinion resulting from
the comparison appears to be unfavourable for Grottger”. The author opposed this, in his
belief, unfair judgment: “A comparison of these two cycles has to be a comparison of two
different spiritual organisations ... Goya is a thinker, who embraces all the social problems,
from ethics to economy. Grottger is a poet, who enclosed his ideas in the sphere of emotions”.
These remarks seem to be especially intriguing to a contemporary scholar who focuses on
forms of visual narration in art. It is typical of Goya’s graphic cycles that the arrangement of
prints appears to be deprived of a logical and consistent pattern. In Los Desastres de la Guerra
(1810 - c.1820), Goya transformed the type of late 18th century “capriccio” series in prints
into an original form of cyclical expression. He abandoned the idea of a conventional narrative
based on a plot in favour of irregular sequences built of several variants of recurring images;
clustering of similar motifs treated in a multifaceted way is interrupted by juxtaposition of
contradictory ones. The repetition of images in Desastres reflects a persistent returning of
shattering memories which overwhelm a witness of the war atrocities; variations of motifs
reinforce the ghastly expressiveness of the cycle and intensify its devastating message -
a condemnation of humanity. Both the obsessive penetration of a few themes and the rapid
changes of subject matter imply an episodic vision of the war, reveal the chaos and confusion
of isolated events. The irregular arrangement of prints seems to deliver impressions of
a terrified witness confronted with the horrors of war rather than a report of an objective
observer. Such a form of narration, along with the formal synthesis of depiction, enhances the
symbolical message of Desastres, creates a timeless paraghrase on the subject matter of war
rather than an exact record or chronicle.
The structure of Artur Grottger’s cycle entitled The War (1866-67) is utterly unlike the one
of Desastres. A thorough study of the forms of visual narration employed by Grottger proves
that the sequence of eleven scenes which constitute The War lends itself to an overall symmet-
rical arrangement which enhances the poetical aspects of the cycle.
The War is heterogenous in terms of style and expression; a sentimental vein and theatrical
rendering of the scenes are quite unsuccessfully combined with realistic handling of details;
classical stylization and allegorical devices appear not to be suitable for conveying romantic
87
to bring together all of Goya’s graphic cycles. He was known for being an excellent connois-
seur of Goya’s oeuvre.
In November 1902 Manggha organised in the Sukiennice exhibition hall in Cracow a show
presenting three cycles devoted to the subject matter of war. By juxtaposing works accom-
plished by Goya, Artur Grottger and Valere Bernard Jasieński brought about an intellectual
war, a crucial discussion about art and aesthetic judgement. He anticipated the exhibit with two
articles of his own. The first one concerned Goya’s graphic output, while in the second one
Jasieński questioned the established artistic standing of Grottger, a famed Polish late romantic.
He realised that The War by Grottger lacked the powerfull expressiveness and emotional
intensity of the other cycles executed by the artist. The critic pointed out the irrelevance of
its formal qualities to the significance and tragic character of the subject matter. In his view,
the imagination of the artist lost its strength in descriptive details and anegdotes, weakened
thanks to allegorical devices. In the opinion of other Polish critics the episodic and concise
description of the war incidents was the major weakness of Desastres.
The discussion was revived in 1903 in Warsaw when Aleksander Krywult opened in his
gallery an exhibition of Goya’s graphic oeuvre. In an article titled Goya or Grottger Kazimierz
Broniewski summed up the conclusions of the exciting polemic: “The opinion resulting from
the comparison appears to be unfavourable for Grottger”. The author opposed this, in his
belief, unfair judgment: “A comparison of these two cycles has to be a comparison of two
different spiritual organisations ... Goya is a thinker, who embraces all the social problems,
from ethics to economy. Grottger is a poet, who enclosed his ideas in the sphere of emotions”.
These remarks seem to be especially intriguing to a contemporary scholar who focuses on
forms of visual narration in art. It is typical of Goya’s graphic cycles that the arrangement of
prints appears to be deprived of a logical and consistent pattern. In Los Desastres de la Guerra
(1810 - c.1820), Goya transformed the type of late 18th century “capriccio” series in prints
into an original form of cyclical expression. He abandoned the idea of a conventional narrative
based on a plot in favour of irregular sequences built of several variants of recurring images;
clustering of similar motifs treated in a multifaceted way is interrupted by juxtaposition of
contradictory ones. The repetition of images in Desastres reflects a persistent returning of
shattering memories which overwhelm a witness of the war atrocities; variations of motifs
reinforce the ghastly expressiveness of the cycle and intensify its devastating message -
a condemnation of humanity. Both the obsessive penetration of a few themes and the rapid
changes of subject matter imply an episodic vision of the war, reveal the chaos and confusion
of isolated events. The irregular arrangement of prints seems to deliver impressions of
a terrified witness confronted with the horrors of war rather than a report of an objective
observer. Such a form of narration, along with the formal synthesis of depiction, enhances the
symbolical message of Desastres, creates a timeless paraghrase on the subject matter of war
rather than an exact record or chronicle.
The structure of Artur Grottger’s cycle entitled The War (1866-67) is utterly unlike the one
of Desastres. A thorough study of the forms of visual narration employed by Grottger proves
that the sequence of eleven scenes which constitute The War lends itself to an overall symmet-
rical arrangement which enhances the poetical aspects of the cycle.
The War is heterogenous in terms of style and expression; a sentimental vein and theatrical
rendering of the scenes are quite unsuccessfully combined with realistic handling of details;
classical stylization and allegorical devices appear not to be suitable for conveying romantic