Francisco de Goya

General folly

Clasificación
General folly
Datos Generales
Cronología
1815 - 1819
Dimensiones
248 x 359 mm
Técnica y soporte
Etching and burnished aquatint
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Documented work
Ficha: realización/revisión
21 Aug 2021 / 05 Jun 2023
Inventario
-
Historia

See Femenine folly.

The burnished aquatint state proof of the Mead Art Museum, Amherst (Massachusetts, USA) has manuscript General Folly.

Análisis artístico

A conglomeration of enigmatic figures huddles together in a dense mass. A number of figures can be distinguished amidst the confusion. On the right of the composition, a woman with a feline face and a broad habit holds a group of kittens on a cushion. She seems to be offering them to another figure in clerical garb with the face of a cat, kneeling in front of her, who reaches out her arms to pick up the litter. Behind is a tangle of agitated bodies, including a snouted head and a woman, held by other figures, who has a baby snatched from her arms or, perhaps, pounced upon. At the bottom, a bearded old man with the appearance of a prophet sits on the ground reading a book. Next to him a figure in an attack stance confronts a small figure with a rapier that emerges from the dark background. This mysterious little personage is often identified with Napoleon because of the cap he wears and the weapon he carries. Perhaps Goya wanted to interpret the situation in Spain during the Napoleonic invasion. In front of him stands a heroic boy who represents the resistance of the Spanish people against the occupying forces.

Horror vacui makes it difficult to find meaning. Some see the decadence of Queen Marie-Louise's court in the figure of the kittens because of her predilection for these animals. The gentleness with which she treats them contrasts with the rudeness with which the baby is handled. There is also a criticism of religious practices, as the litter sits on a cushion covered with a Christian skirt and is offered to a priest or clergyman as if it were to be baptised.

The light is arranged on some parts of the figure as if in patches, but the light on the man reading the book os brighter and clearer, as if trying to focus the viewer´s attention on him, perhaps because ir holds the key to the meaning of the print, as his 

spirituality and tranquillity contrast with the degeneration around him.

The figures emerge from the dark background of the aquatint, some of which almost merge with it. The space is indeterminate. All that can be made out is a floor on which the figures sit, executed with lines of etching.

The preparatory drawing for the present print, also titled General folly, it has been preserved

Exposiciones
  • Goya
    Musée Jacquemart-André
    París
    1961
    consultant editor Jean-Gabriel Domergue. From December 1961 to February 1962
  • Etchings by Francosco Goya
    Johannesburgo
    Johannesburgo
    1974
  • Boston
    1974
  • 1976
  •  Grabados de Goya: colección propiedad de la Biblioteca Nacional, que se conserva en su Gabinete de
    Casa de la Amistad de Moscú
    Moscow
    1979
    exhibition displayed from January 18th to 31st 1979
  • Goya. Das Zeitalter der Revolucionen. Kunst um 1800 (1980 – 1981)
    Hamburger Kunsthalle
    Hamburg
    1980
  • Goya y el espíritu de la Ilustración
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1988
    from October 6th to December 18th 1988. Exhibited also at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, January 18th to March 26th 1989; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Nueva York, May 9th to July 16th 1989, Madrid curator Manuela B. Mena Marqués, scientific directors Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez and Eleanor A. Sayre
  • Francisco Goya. Sein leben im spiegel der graphik. Fuendetodos 1746-1828 Bordeaux. 1746-1996
    Galerie Kornfeld
    Bern
    1996
    from November 21st 1996 to January 1997
  • Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
  • Goya grabador
    Museo del Grabado Español Contemporáneo
    Marbella
    1996
    from March 8th to May 5th 1996
  • Zaragoza
    1996
  • London
    1997
  • 1999
  • Madrid
    1999
  • Schlaf der Vernunft. Original radierungen von Francisco de Goya
    Munich
    2000
  • Bilbao
    2012
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    pp. 387-388, cat. 256
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p. 325, cat. 1583
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p. 239, cat. 383
  • CARRETE, Juan, MATILLA, José Manuel, AULLÓN DE HARO, Pedro, BOZAL, Valeriano, GLENDINNING, Nigel, VEGA, Jesusa y BLAS, Javier
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando y Calcografía Nacional
    1996
    p. 109, cat. 29
  • MATILLA, José Manuel
    Roma Edizioni de Luca
    2000
    pp. 128-129, cat. 41
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 272
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 204-211
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