Francisco de Goya

Young Women (Las jóvenes)

Young Women (Las jóvenes)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1814 - 1819
Ubicación
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille, France
Dimensiones
181 x 125 cm
Técnica y soporte
Oil on canvas
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Titular
Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille
Ficha: realización/revisión
25 Apr 2010 / 15 Jun 2023
Inventario
(P.9)
Otros títulos:
The Letter (La carta)
Historia

This work was bought from Javier Goya in 1825 for the Spanish Gallery of Louis-Philippe of Orleans. It was sold, along with other works from the collection, at auction in Christie's of London in 1853 for the sum of 21 pounds (lot no. 353). It was acquired by Durlacher. In 1873 it was bought by subscription from the merchant Warneck, and entrusted to the Lille museum. It entered the collection along with Old Women or Time. However, the paintings do not form a pair: they were carried out at different times and are of different sizes, despite the expansion suffered by the canvas Old Women.

Análisis artístico

A woman in a black dress and white bodice, her head covered with an elegant scarf, stops under the bright sunshine to read a letter while at her feet a dog tries to get her attention. At her side, her companion, dressed entirely in black, opens a parasol which shades her from the sun. Behind these figures we can observe a group of women doing some washing. The composition is divided into two parts by the washing line full of white clothing. Below, we can see the washer women, whose figures are delineated with strong black curves, in contrast with their facial features which are barely sketched in. Above the line of the washing, the heads of the women in the foreground stand out against the blue sky, as does the yellow parasol which contrasts strongly with the indigo of the sky.

We are ostensibly before a genre painting, very much in keeping with those Goya produced in which he revived the figure of the maja or fashionable young woman, as in Majas on a Balcony or Maja and Celestina.

Nevertheless, some authors have looked to find a portrait of a real person in the main figure in this scene, and Gassier posits that this woman represents the young Leocadia Weiss. Based on the intimate relationship which Goya had with this woman, some authors have also suggested that this painting is an allegory of seduction, emphasized by the light which falls on the covered chest of the main figure.

Exposiciones
  • Peintures de Goya des collections de France
    Musée de l’Orangerie
    París
    1938
  • Trésors de la peinture espagnole, Eglises et Musées de France
    Palais du Louvre and Musée des Arts Décoratifs
    París
    1963
    from January to April 1963
  • Meisterwerke aus den Museum in Lille
    Schloss Charlottenburg
    Berlin
    1964
  • Goya
    Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis
    The Hauge
    1970
    organized by Ministerio de Estado y Asuntos Culturales and Réunion des Musées Nationaux, July 4th to September 13th 1970. Exhibited also at the Musée de l’Orangerie des Tuileries, Paris, October 25th to December 7th 1970, consultant editors Jeannine Baticle and A. B. de Vries
  • Goya. 250 Aniversario
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    1996
    consultant editor Juan J. Luna. From March 29th to June 2nd 1996
  • Expérience Goya
    Lille
    2021
Bibliografía
  • DESPARMET FITZ - GERALD, Xavier
    L'œuvre peint de Goya. 4 vols
    París
    1928-1950
    vol. I, p. 267, cat. 242
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    pp. 256, 266, cat. 962
  • GUDIOL RICART, José
    BarcelonaPolígrafa
    1970
    vol. I, p. 351, cat. 583
  • CAMÓN AZNAR, José
    Francisco de Goya, 4 vols.
    ZaragozaCaja de Ahorros de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja
    1980-1982
    vol. III, p. 194
  • LUNA, Juan J. (Comisario)
    Goya. 250 Aniversario
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1996
    p. 415, cat. 146 y p. 237 (il.)
  • COTENTIN, Régis
    Expérience Goya (cat. expo)
    LilleRéunion des Musées Nationaux
    2021
    pp. 54-63
Enlaces externos
Obra relacionada
Volver
Usamos cookies propias y de terceros para mejorar su navegación. Si continua navegando consideramos que acepta el uso de cookies.