Francisco de Goya

They do not want to (No quieren)

Clasificación
They do not want to (No quieren)
Datos Generales
Cronología
Ca. 1810 - 1815
Dimensiones
153 x 207 mm
Técnica y soporte
Etching, burnished aquatint, drypoint and burnisher
Reconocimiento de la autoría de Goya
Undisputed work
Ficha: realización/revisión
28 Nov 2010 / 02 Jun 2023
Inventario
225
Inscripciones

29 (lower left-hand corner, crossed out).

Historia

Véase Sad presentiments of what must come to pass.

There exists a state proof of this etching, without the number but with the aquatint extending up to the edges of the copperplate. In the third state proof the number 29 appears engraved on to the plate and there is some retouching done, in burin, on the soldier's hat. In this same proof the aquatint has been removed from around the edges.

In the final state proof we see an engraved number 9 and much more work done in drypoint and burin.

The title was handwritten by Goya on the first and only print run that we know to have been made at the time, and which the painter gave to his friend Agustín Ceán Bermúdez. The title was engraved on to the copperplate at a later date, and no other modifications were made to the image for the first edition of the Disasters of War, which was printed by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, Madrid, in 1863.

No preparatory drawings for this print have been conserved.

Análisis artístico

They do not want to depicts a woman being violently assaulted. A French soldier has hold of a woman around the waist. She has her back to the viewer, standing with her legs wide apart and with her face hidden behind one of her arms. She is attempting to defend herself by ferociously scratching at her attacker's face. On his face we can see a grimace of pain. Behind the pair, an old woman is about to drive a dagger into the French soldier. This image includes a spatial reference, a waterwheel, situating the scene in the countryside, and possibly indicating that what we are witnessing is an isolated episode, perhaps not directly related to the war. In addition, this is one of the few times that Goya has chosen to represent the face of the enemy, possibly with an eye to showing the pain being inflicted on him by the woman.

The dark background, created using aquatint, suggests that this scene could have taken place at night. The Aragonese artist has emphasized the importance of the woman who is being attacked by clothing her in a white dress. This is most likely an allusion to her innocence, as is the white shirt worn by the central figure in Third of May 1808.

This etching can be related to other prints in the series in which Goya portrays the role of women in war or violence against women, such as no. 4, The women give courage, no. 7, What courage!, no. 9, They do not want to, no. 11, Or these, no. 13,Bitter presence, no. 19, There is no more time and no. 31, That's tough!.

Eleanor Sayre also draws a comparison between this print and some others which also feature large figures and make use of the technique of aquatint, such as no. 10, Not in this case either, no. 33, What more can one do? and no. 38,Barbarians!, and puts their date of execution at some point after 1810.

The gesture of the woman who is ferociously scratching at the French soldier's face recalls a print by Fernando Brambila (1763-1834) and Juan Gálvez (1774-1847) which portrays Joséf de la Hera, a carpenter armed with a knife, attacking a French soldier (1812-1813, City Hall, Madrid). The expression of pain on the face of the soldier, who has sideburns and a beard just like in Goya's image, and the way the carpenter's hand is shown right up close to the other man's face both coincide with the episode depicted by the Spanish artist.

It is also worth mentioning another scene which resembles this one quite closely. Portraying a young woman who is being abducted, undoubtedly to be subsequently raped, it was made in around 1811 by an anonymous artist (National Chalcography Museum, Antonio Correa collection, Madrid) to commemorate the sacking of Tarragona, an event which took place on 28 June that same year.

Conservación

The etching plate is conserved in the National Chalcography Museum (cat. 260)

Exposiciones
  • Goya. Drawings, Etchings and Lithographs
    Goya. Drawings
    London
    1954
    from June 12th to July 25th 1954
  • Goya and his times
    The Royal Academy of Arts
    London
    1963
    cat. 66
  • De grafiek van Goya
    Rijksmuseum Rijksprentenkabinet
    Amsterdam
    1970
    from November 13th 1970 to January 17th 1971
  • 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 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
  • Ydioma universal: Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    Biblioteca Nacional
    Madrid
    1996
    from September 19th to December 15th 1996
  • Francisco Goya. Capricci, follie e disastri della guerra
    San Donato Milanese
    2000
    Opere grafiche della Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta
  • Goya. La imagen de la mujer
    Museo Nacional del Prado
    Madrid
    2001
    from October 30th 2001 to February 10th 2002. Exhibitied also at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, March 10th to June 2nd 2002, consultant editor Francisco Calvo Serraller
  • Goya. Opera grafica
    Pinacoteca del Castello di San Giorgio
    Legnano
    2006
    exhibition celebrated from December 16th 2006 to April 1st 2007
  • Goya luces y sombras
    CaixaForum
    Barcelona
    2012
    consultant editors José Manuel Matilla and Manuela B. Marqués. From March 16th to June 24th 2012
  • Goya et la modernité
    Pinacothèque de Paris
    París
    2013
    from October 11st 2013 to March 16th 2014
  • Goya: Order and disorder
    Museum of Fine Arts
    Boston
    2014
  • 2022
Bibliografía
  • BERUETE Y MONET, Aureliano de
    Goya, grabador
    MadridBlass S.A.
    1918
    cat. 111
  • HARRIS, Tomás
    Goya engravings and lithographs, vol. I y II.
    OxfordBruno Cassirer
    1964
    cat. 129
  • GASSIER, Pierre y WILSON, Juliet
    Vie et ouvre de Francisco de Goya
    ParísOffice du livre
    1970
    cat. 1005
  • PÉREZ SÁNCHEZ, Alfonso E. y SAYRE, Eleanor A. (directores) and MENA, Manuela B. (comisaria)
    Goya y el espíritu de la Ilustración
    MadridMuseo del Prado
    1988
    cat. 85
  • SANTIAGO, Elena M. (coordinadora)
    Catálogo de las estampas de Goya en la Biblioteca Nacional
    MadridMinisterio de Educación y Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional
    1996
    cat. 195
  • GALLEGO GARCÍA, Raquel
    Goya. Los desastres de la guerra, l
    BarcelonaLa Central
    2011
    pp. 23-24
  • OROPESA, Marisa and RINCÓN GARCÍA, Wilfredo
    ParísPinacoteca de París
    2013
    p.124
  • ILCHMAN, Frederick y STEPANEK, Stephanie L. (comisarios)
    Goya: Order & Disorder
    BostonMuseum of Fine Arts Boston Publications
    2014
    p. 223
  • WILSON BAREAU, Juliet
    Goya. In the Norton Simon Museum
    PasadenaNorton Simon Museum
    2016
    pp. 114-151
  • TORAL OROPESA, María and MARTÍN MEDINA, Víctor
    Museo de Bellas Artes de Badajoz y Diputación de Badajoz
    2022
    p. 56
Enlaces externos
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