Collection: Francisco de Goya

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker, born in Fuendetodos, Aragon, and later active in Madrid and Bordeaux. He trained under José Luzán y Martínez and Anton Raphael Mengs. Goya became a court painter to the Spanish Crown in 1786, achieving the rank of Primer Pintor de Cámara in 1799. His early career included portraits of the Spanish aristocracy and Rococo-style tapestry cartoons.

Goya's art responded directly to the tumultuous events of his era. After a severe illness in 1793 left him deaf, his work became progressively darker and more pessimistic. His later easel and mural paintings, prints, and drawings reflected a bleak outlook on personal, social, and political levels. He explored themes of insanity, witches, fantastical creatures, and corruption, contrasting with his earlier Rococo commissions. His unique style, encompassing painting, drawing, and printmaking, developed from late Baroque and Rococo beginnings through Neoclassicism to a distinct personal language.

Goya's work, particularly his series The Disasters of War (published posthumously in 1863) and the Black Paintings (1819–1823), documented the historical upheavals of his time, such as the Peninsular War, and expressed profound disillusionment. His subversive and imaginative elements, alongside his bold handling of paint, influenced important 19th- and 20th-century painters, including Édouard Manet and Pablo Picasso. Goya is often considered the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns, serving as a precursor to Expressionism.