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“…an observer with veneration of Velázquez and Rembrandt, but even more [he] studied and observed nature, who he said was his mistress.”
- Javier Goya on his son, Francisco Goya

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) embodied the rational thought and progressive ideas fostered during the Enlightenment. Born in Fuendetodos (Zaragosa), in the region of Aragon in Spain, he was unflinching in his examination of Spanish society, the Church and the State, all of which came under scrutiny in his works. Goya’s contribution to the development of European Art was fundamental. One of the greatest printmakers of all time, his talent is matched only by Dürer and Rembrandt. Each of his near 300 etchings and lithographs were highly original creations as the Los Proverbios series, to be offered in this sale, reveals.

An Enigma Wrapped in a Conundrum
Los Proverbios, a product of Goya’s old age, are the most difficult of all his etchings to interpret. Their mood is not unlike that of his ‘Black Paintings’ and, like these, they were probably created immediately after his famous Bullfighting series La Tauromaquia, in the years 1819 to 1823. None of the etchings is dated and it seems certain that Goya did not regard the series as complete, since he failed to number the individual images. Possibly because of the repressive regime in power at the time no edition was printed during the artist’s lifetime. The copperplates presumably stayed in Madrid until they were printed and published by the Spanish Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1864. The Academy published the etchings under the title Los Proverbios (Proverbs) to suggest a connection between the images and certain popular adages or sayings. However, subsequent efforts to link the strange content of the images to the many and various maxims in the Spanish language have not been entirely successful. Some of the earliest impressions bear inscriptions, apparently in Goya’s hand, that refer to the scenes as ‘disparates’ and for this reason the series is often called Los Disparates. In Spanish disparate denotes absurdity, something nonsensical, irrational or outrageous, and, since most of these etchings contain such elements the title seems appropriate. Any attempt to find some ultimate meaning must bear in mind Goya’s terrible depression and his preoccupation with the absurdity of life, the forces of evil and the triumph of old age, pain and death.

Carnival Time
Alongside these darker themes one element that can de discerned is that of Carnival. Carnival was celebrated across Europe in the seven days leading up to Lent and was, and to this day remains, a time when the rules of the established order were bent, when permissiveness, licentiousness and gluttony ruled. Clearly the contrast of this excess and the inevitable hypocrisy in advance of the abstinence and penitence of Lent fascinated Goya. The sense of fun and frivolity of carnival time is apparent in etchings such as Feminine Folly in which a group of women playfully throw mannequins into the air with a blanket. Lascivious behaviour was rife during Carnival and this is brought to the fore in The Kidnapping Horse as woman is seized by an unbridled horse and in the background another woman is devoured by a monster in an act of unrestrained passion. War with the French and the subsequent repressive measures imposed on Spain by King Ferdinand VIII probably explain why the series was not published during Goya’s lifetime. They were, however, certainly intended for the public, perhaps in the hope that these meditations on folly, lust, marriage, old age and death would have some resonance and see the change that the Enlightenment years had once promised.