The exhibition “Goya.
Disasters of War.
Collections of the Mapfre Foundation is now open to the public at the Mirador del Carmen in Estepona, Malaga.
The exhibition, which can be visited until March 10, 2024, features the 80 engravings that Francisco de Goya y Lucientes made to express the pain and anguish he felt at the events of the war and its consequences for the civilian population.
The mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano, thanked the Mapfre Foundation for its “collaboration in the realization of this exhibition, which constitutes a true cultural event” in the city due to Goya’s universal importance.
In this respect, he stated that “there is no doubt that this exhibition consolidates the Mirador del Carmen as a national reference exhibition space” and declared that the Consistory would continue to work to ensure that this new cultural facility continues to evolve with the implementation of other projects, such as the music conservatory or the large library.
Leyre Bozal, curator of the Fundación Mapfre’s collections, declared that “we are very honoured to present ‘The Disasters of War’ by Francisco de Goya, one of the greatest artists in history, in the new Mirador del Carmen center. This space will undoubtedly become the city’s cultural nerve center, and the Fundación Mapfre is delighted to be able to contribute to it”.
These engravings form one of the most important parts of the collections and confirm the interest that the Mapfre Foundation has always had in works on paper and, more specifically, engravings.
“It was not in vain that after their acquisition in 2013, the Desastres joined other important bodies of prints we already had in our collection, such as Pablo Picasso’s Suite Vollard or the prints of José Gutiérrez Solana,” added Mr. Bozal.
Goya’s modern approach to depicting war and its consequences is still relevant today.
He was probably the first artist to do so without exalting the heroism of either side, without taking sides.
On the contrary, he shows the pain and barbarity of such an event and, in so doing, universalizes it.
Goya depicts what happened during the War of Independence, but in reality it could be any war.
THE DISASTERS OF WAR
Goya’s “The Disasters of War” is the first example in the history of painting where events such as war and its consequences are depicted not as heroic deeds, but as the disaster and barbarism they really are: fear, terror, hunger and poverty.
Goya depicts war as if it were a chronicle, and the facts are so harsh that, while denouncing it, they seem to cry out for peace.
Unlike other prints of the period, which emphasize the heroism of the combatants and the din of battle, the Aragonese artist favors the viewpoint of the victims, which is unprecedented in the history of painting.
Victims and their suffering, as well as political criticism, are the main subjects of these paintings, prompting the viewer to reflect.
It would seem, then, that Goya not only depicted the events of the War of Independence, but also announced and drew our attention to all the wars and their barbarity, those to come, that have taken place and continue to take place in different parts of the world.
There are currently seven editions of “Disasters of War”.
The fourth, in the collections of the Mapfre Foundation, was produced in 1906 by Calcografía Nacional.
The print run was limited to 275 copies, on quality laid cream paper with very dark black ink.
The set of prints is generally divided into three parts: the first two [Catastrophes 1 à 64] are the “catastrophes of war” proper, while the third, the more allegorical “emphatic caprices” [Catastrophes 65 à 80], is seen as a political reflection on the absolutist government of Ferdinand VII after the end of the war and the withdrawal of French troops.
The violence Goya witnessed during the War of Independence prompted him to return to drawing, sketching and printmaking, an activity he had somewhat abandoned since 1799, when he painted “Los Caprichos”.
These private works were an effective way of expressing the pain and anguish he felt at the events of the war and their consequences for the civilian population.
Although he didn’t publish them during his lifetime, probably due to the political situation, as his critical view of the war would have conflicted with King Ferdinand VII’s commemorative wishes on his return to Spain, we do know of a complete, bound edition, which he gave to his friend Ceán Bermúdez before he left for Bordeaux in 1824.
The handwritten title page of this album reads: “Fatales consequencias de la sangrienta guerra en España con Buonaparte. Et autres caprices emphatiques, en 85 estampes. Invented, drawn and engraved by the original painter D.Francisco de Goya y Lucientes. A Madrid”.
The exact chronological limits of the series’ execution are unknown, but it is generally dated between 1810, a date that appears on three of the prints, and 1815.
Alongside El Greco, Velasquez and Picasso, Goya is one of the great names in Spanish painting.
A man of his time, his work nevertheless transcends his era, opening up new horizons for understanding not only the history of modern art, but also that of contemporary art, in Spain and around the world.
The exhibition can be visited free of charge by registered residents of the city.
Tickets cost six euros for general admission and four euros for reduced admission for unregistered residents.
The exhibition hall will be open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
