Francisco De Goya's Style of Art,Background, History, & Critique Works (Research Paper Sample)

Artist Research Paper: Francisco De Goya
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Artist Research Paper: Francisco De Goya
The artist that is to be discussed in this research paper is Francesco De Goya. Francesco De Goya was born in the city of Aragon in Spain in the year of 19746. His father worked as a glider. Goya attended the Esceulas Pias school, and started studying painting at the age of 14 under the guidance of the painter, Jose Luzan. Goya then moved later on to Madrid, where he proceeded with his studies of art and started his early career. Unfortunately, Goya attempted to admit to the Royal Academy of Fine Art, but such attempts were met with failure. Following such attempt, Goya relocated to Rome, where he started winning prizes in painting competitions. Goya became popular due to signs of delicate tonalities found in his paintings, and his marriage to the sister of the Royal Academy of Fine Art member, Francisco Bayeu, assisted his work to be woven through the Factory of the Royal Tapestry. Goya’s work became recognized by the Spanish King, King Carlos III, and was given the opportunity to spend summers with crown princes of the Spanish royal family which resulted into him being awarded a reputable salaried position (Troutman, 1971).
Goya’s early success was unfortunately stumbled upon several obstacles, which included the spread of corruption in the Spanish royal family and the development of serious illness that led Goya to be more involved into introspectiveness. Furthermore, the French invasion of Spain led Goya to cease relations with the Spanish royal family. Consequently, Goya became more isolated and he lost faith in the restoration of the Spanish monarchy and political stance. Goya died in 1828 in the city of Bordeaux in France at the age of 1828 (Troutman, 1971). A favorite quote of mine that resembles Goya’s ideals regarding the conflicts between reality and fantasy is the following; “Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels.” (Frank, 2014).
Francesco De Goya has been often hailed as the father of modern art, and his work has been viewed as linkage between being a master of the old art and being a true innovator and founder of modern art (Frank, 2014). The majority of Goya’s wok included royal portrait and other subversive paintings that range across the late 18th century and the early 19th century. The medium that was commonly used by Goya was oil on canvas. Goya’s style is majorly styled as romanticism, which is a style of art that emphasizes on being subjective in reflecting the reality and on invoking intensive emotions and imagination that blends with acts of reality. This shows through the contrasts between Goya’s earlier works that embodied the Spanish monarchy, the age of Enlightenment, and the horrors of the war that came as a consequence to the Napoleonic invasion, and his later work that encompassed dreamlike and bizarre subjects that paved the way for surrealist artists such as Salvador Dali. All in all, Goya was an artist who was a social commentator on the events of the time and an imaginative artist who did not shy from expressing grotesque imagery in his work (Troutman, 1971).
One of the most popular works of Goya that comes from his middle period is the Naked Maja, 1797-1800, as shown in Figure 2; a painting of a naked woman lying over pillows. The painting was an issue of mysteriousness, as the identity of the commissioner of the wok remains a subject of controversy among researchers and historians. The most popular opinion on the identity of the woman is that the woman represents the Duchess of Alba who was known to have an affair with Goya. The paint was provocative at the time due to the shameless display of the female body displayed. Yet, the painting being a landmark that proves Goya’s perfection over human anatomy and lighting effects. Also, this painting is a sign of Goya’s boldness due to the erotic manner and the confident looks of the woman in the painting. A few years later, the painting was repeated; this time with the woman being clothed, La maja vestida, as shown in Figure 3 (Troutman, 1971).
Another popular painting for Goya is The Third of May 1808, 1814, which depicts the Spanish resistance to the Napoleonic invasion by showing a group of villagers being brutally shot by the French invaders in the middle of the night under the light of the lanterns, as shown in Figure 4. The painting is a perfect example on how Goya reflected upon current time events in a sense of commemoration of the Spanish resistance. Through this painting, Goya evokes emotions, as well as realistic imagery of the horrors of war during the time. In addition, the painting shows a divergence from the older traditions of war depictions in the older Christian art; a painting that later became known as one of the first paintings of the Modern Era in terms of subject, style, and revolutionary intention (Troutman, 1971).
Two artists that were highly influenced with Goya’s work and shared the same style and subject as Goya were Edouard Manet and Pablo Picasso. Manet was inspired with Goya’s depictions of the war, and there