Tambien estos ('These too') (D. 144; H. 145)

Details

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
Tambien estos ('These too') (D. 144; H. 145)
etching with drypoint and engraving, Harris's state I ii, an exceptionally rare working proof before letters and numbers and before the burnishing of the short, horizontal strokes upper right (Harris records eight other examples, six of which are in public collections), a fine impression, on laid paper, with wide margins, the number 16 in pen and ink in the upper right corner, the artist's name, the date 1810 and a price (5/-) in pencil in the lower margin, a vertical crease running along the right borderline, soft creasing elsewhere, scattered foxing, some minor rubbing in the lower right margin, several minor indentations in the paper surface at the right sheet edge (probably due to the manufacturing process), remains of old adhesive on the reverse at the upper sheet edge where previously mounted
P. 165 x 233 mm., S. 220 x 320 mm.

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Lot Essay

As elsewhere in this series Goya has joined two prints together by means of their titles. This is the second of a pair, the first of which (entitled They can still be of use) shows badly wounded figures being dragged from the field of battle. The present work shows the bedlam of a hospital, with new arrivals being dumped unceremoniously on the floor. The wounded are utterly disregarded, and Goya's bitter title reinforces the dehumanising aspect by not even referring to them as men or human beings.
The rather curious pale oval patch to the right of the standing figure in the centre of the image is thought to be Goya's thumb print, which he inadvertently placed on the copper plate - the grease from which acted as a resist, reducing the biting effect of the acid.

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