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Francisco Goya was born in a small town near Saragossa, Spain. His father was a painter and a gilder. A gilder is an artisan who applies thin sheets of gold to paintings such as altar pieces in churches. When he was fourteen he was apprenticed to a local artist. This was the beginning of his art career.
He went to Rome for a year and then returned to Spain. It was during this time he did several large fresco projects. A fresco is a painting done on a wall or ceiling by using watercolors on fresh, moist plaster which has been applied to the surface.
His marriage to Josefa, the sister of a painter in the royal court, was the turning point of his career. He became the official court painter for King Charles III (the Third) and worked in the royal tapestry factory.
Wealthy people wanted him to paint portraits of themselves and their families. Some of them wanted to be painted as " majos" or "majas" , young working-class men and women in Madrid who sometimes would dress up in brightly colored costumes and parade through the streets.
The featured work on this page, " Manuel Osorio de Zuniga" was painted during this period of his life.
Goya and Josefa had six children, but sadly only one of them, Xavier, survived. All the others died in infancy.
In 1792 Goya suffered an illness which caused him to become deaf. His life changed, and so did his paintings. His works became very dark in color, and the subjects were evil-looking. He covered his walls with these "black paintings". How depressing!
He continued as the court painter for King Charles IV (the Fourth). He painted a family portrait for the king called " La Familia de Carlos IV" . However, the finished picture was very unflattering. "The children cower, the king looks stupid, and the queen bad-tempered" (Quote from Fandex Field Guides, Painters) The king didn't dismiss him, but he never asked Goya to paint another family portrait for him.
Francisco Goya self-portrait 1795
When he wanted to make a statement about the politics of the time, he painted a series of pictures called "Caprices" . He would depict a person as a donkey or paint other scenes to ridicule certain people.
In 1823 Goya signed over to his grandson his house, which was known as the "House of the Deaf Man". He left Spain and moved to Paris. Three years later he returned to Spain for a visit. The king granted him a retirement pension and ordered an official painting of Goya to be done by Vincente Lopez.
His eyesight began to fail, then he suffered paralysis, and finally died in 1828 at the age of 82. He was buried in France, but later his remains were moved to Spain and buried in Madrid.
Goya DVD
By Kultur International Films
In 1792, a famous Spanish portraitist fell victim to an illness that left him permanently deaf. This was the event that proved the turning-point in the career of Francisco Jose Goya y Lucientes. Trapped in his silent world, Goya's portraiture climbed to new heights of achievement, but it was his increasingly dark images that are most appreciated today. The sheer horror of much of Goya's later work was unprecedented in Western Art, and it is these paintings and etchings that secure his status as a giant of the Romantic Age.As this fascinating program reveals, Goya's own time gave him additional inspirational inspiration for his images of terror. The bloody war between his own homeland and Napoleonic France inspired The Third of May, the greatest canvas of his career. The continuing existence of the Spanish Inquisition also provoked Goya to create timeless works. Not even his own persecution by the Inquisition's officers could prevent Goya from painting masterpieces into the ninth decade of a remarkable life. Running time: 50 minutes.
Focus On Artists, Grades 4-8
By Teacher Created Resources
Art broadens horizons and allows children to see and evaluate are as they see art as a piece of individual human expression. Students will learn about famous and not-so-famous artists as well as the historical periods in which they lived--Renaissance & Baroque, 19th Century and 20th Century. Each lesson provides an overview with the focus, activity and vocabulary words; the lesson includes a materials list and instructions. Extensions activities and an introduction to each artist are also included. 112 reproducible pages, softcover. Grades 4-8.
Fandex Field Guide: Painters
By Workman Publishing
Fandex brings the world of Western art to your fingertips with a field guide of painters, their legacies, and the often extreme lives they led. A chronology from Giotto, the first modern painter, to Frank Stella, whose black paintings proclaimed "what you see is what you see." Here is Michelangelo, who resented having to paint the Sistene Chapel because it took him away from sculpture. Botticelli and Vermeer, whose work languised in obscurity until the nineteenth century. Mary Cassatt, the only American to be included with the Impressionists. Illustrating each entry is a portrait or self-portrait of the artist, plus significant paintings and details.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
links at ArtCyclopedia
Francisco Goya
from Web Museum
Francisco de Goya
from the ArtChive
Paintings by Goya
Biography of Goya
at CGFA
Goya
at the National Gallery of Art
Goya Timeline
Francisco Goya
Online book
Goya
from Cyber Spain
Portrait of Mariano Goya (1806-74) 1815-17 Giclee Print
Goya, Francisco...
Buy at AllPosters.com
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