PAST EXHIBITIONS

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) is regarded as the most important Spanish artist of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A witness to decades of political upheaval and social unrest, he represents both the culmination of the tradition of the Old Masters and the beginning of modernity.

In addition to his commissioned work as a court painter, Goya was an innovative and subtle graphic artist. Over the course of his long career, he produced almost three hundred etchings and lithographs that reveal his personal vision, tireless invention, and enthusiasm for technical experimentation. Goya: A Lifetime of Graphic Invention will present Goya’s printed oeuvre as an integral—indeed defining—component of his life and career. The exhibition will also invite a reconsideration of the Museum’s paintings by Goya through the context of his lifelong engagement with printmaking.

Among the more than 200 works to be featured are complete first edition sets of Goya’s four major print series, Los Caprichos (The Caprices, 1799), Los Desastres de la Guerra/ (The Disasters of War, 1810-19), La Tauromaquia (Bullfighting, 1816), and Los Disparates (The Follies, 1816-23).

This exhibition has been organized by the Meadows Museum, SMU. A generous gift from The Meadows Foundation has made this project possible.