La Tauromaquia (D. 224-56 ; H. 204-36)

细节

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes
La Tauromaquia (D. 224-56 ; H. 204-36)
the complete set of 33 etchings with burnished aquatint, drypoint and engraving, 1816, on fine laid paper with a Morato watermark (some without watermark), very fine, uniform impressions of the First Edition, published by the artist, Madrid, with margin, ,lacking the title page, each sheet with occasional pale foxing, pale time staining at the extreme sheet edges, minor binding defects at the upper sheet edges, traces of red at extreme sheet edges on three sides, remains of old hinges at the upper sheet edges verso, generally in good condition, loose within portfolio cover (album)
S. 310 x 420 mm. (each)

来源

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (cf. L. 282), with their accession and de-accession stamps verso

注意事项

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

拍品专文

Following his experience of the horrors of the Peninsula war, Goya sought respite in the art of bullfighting, of which he had always been an aficionado, even having performed in the ring himself at the age of eighteen. The series marks a return for the seventy year-old artist to a subject in which he could express his love of life, passion and vitality.
With a newfound access to the materials which had been so scarce in wartime, La Tauromaquia became Goya's technical tour de force. Matching a vibrant subject matter to a controlled use of tone he sets each scene in a dramatically sunlit or chiaroscuro setting, subtly balancing movement and tension.

The first edition of La Tauromaquia was published in 1816 and was expertly printed in small numbers under Goya's supervision, probably by his friend Raphael Esteve. By the time the second edition was published forty years later, several of the plates had deteriorated through oxidation. The technical subtleties and delicacy of the aquatint can only be appreciated in the impressions from the first edition.