Francisco de Goya

This is what reading is all about

Clasificación
This is what reading is all about
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1797 - 1799
Dimensiones
219 x 148 mm
Técnica y soporte
Etching, burnished aquatint and drypoint
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
08 Dec 2010 / 29 May 2024
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

This is what reading is all about. (at the bottom)

98. (in the upper right-hand corner)

Historia

See Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, Painter.

A preparatory drawing of this engraving has survived.

Análisis artístico

A grotesque old man is sitting on a low chair with his legs crossed. One of his feet is placed on a brazier while the knee that is raised supports the book he seems to be reading, although his eyes are closed. Behind him a servant is sprinkling powder on his head while another kneeling man is putting on his shoes.

The scene is very dark, and it is even difficult to make out what the two servants look like, while the figure of the old man pretending to read captures all the light in the engraving. The painter has left a large, lighter surface on his clothes and on his white-haired head. The aquatint used is two grains of different thicknesses. Goya obtains a wide variety of tones, although in later editions the aquatint and pale tones gradually disappear.

Ayala's manuscript notes about this engraving that "the ministers wait until the last minute to find out about business. This one has his hair combed, is shod and sleeps. Who wastes time? This meaning is reiterated in the other two manuscripts, the one in the Prado Museum and the one in the National Library.

In this print Goya openly criticises the frivolity and ignorance of the upper classes and the country's leaders. He describes their approach to culture as superficial, as a mere appearance, and as a low priority in their lives.

This type of reproach is also found in some satirical pamphlets of the time, such as Benito Cano's The Inoculation of the Understanding (1789), which satirises those who own books but do not read them.

Conservación

The aquatint is somewhat weakened (National Chalcography, no. 200)

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Gemälde Zeichnungen. Graphik. Tapisserien
    Kunsthalle Basel
    Basle
    1953
    from January 23th to April 12th 1953
  • De grafiek van Goya
    Rijksmuseum Rijksprentenkabinet
    Amsterdam
    1970
    from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971
  • Goya. La década de Los Caprichos
    Madrid
    1992
    organized by Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando sponsored by Fundación Central Hispano, Madrid, consultant editor Nigel Glendinnig. From October 26th 1992 to January 10th 1993
  • Francisco de Goya
    Museo d'Arte Moderna
    Lugano
    1996
    exhibition celebrated from September 22nd to November 17th.
  • 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
  • Francisco Goya. Capricci, follie e disastri della guerra
    San Donato Milanese
    2000
    Opere grafiche della Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta
  • Goya e la tradizione italiana
    Fondazione Magnani Rocca
    Mamiano di Traversetolo (Parma)
    2006
    consultant editors Fred Licht and Simona Tosini Pizzetti. From September 9th to December 3th 2006
  • Goya. Opera grafica
    Pinacoteca del Castello di San Giorgio
    Legnano
    2006
    exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007
  • Goya e Italia
    Museo de Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    2008
    organized by the Fundación Goya en Aragóna, consultant editor Joan Sureda Pons. From June 1st to September 15th 2008
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
Bibliografía
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    Bibliography']['number
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    p.99, cat. 64
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    Bibliography']['number
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    p.179, cat. 508
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya, la década de los caprichos: dibujos y aguafuertes
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridReal Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
    1992
    pp.200-201, cat. 118
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    p.89, cat. 118
  • BLAS BENITO, Javier, MATILLA RODRÍGUEZ, José Manuel y MEDRANO, José Miguel
    El libro de los caprichos: dos siglos de interpretaciones (1799-1999). Catálogo de los dibujos, pruebas de estado, láminas de cobre y estampas de la primera edición
    Bibliography']['number
    MadridMuseo Nacional del Prado
    1999
    pp.180-183
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    Bibliography']['number
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p. 218
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    Bibliography']['number
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 42-75
Enlaces externos
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