Goya: His Life & Works in 500 Images: An illustrated account of the artist, his life and context, with a gallery of 300 paintings and drawings.

by Susie Hodge

A biography and gallery of one of Spain's great masters, stunningly illustrated throughout.

Genres: Art

256 pages, Hardcover

First published December 7, 2015

Reviews

[Kirkirvarpa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Šiemet knygą apie tapybą, garsius dailininkus ir jų darbus išleido Andrius Tapinas. Knyga susilaukė gana daug dėmesio. Ypač kai kalbame apie tapybą - ne patį populiariausią dalyką.
Visgi tie, kas domisi tapyba, puikiai žino, kad ši kregždė ne pirmoji. Briedžio leidykla jau porą metų leidžia puikią seriją apie garsius pasaulio dailininkus. Knygos gausiai iliustruotos tų dailininkų darbais, amžininkų paveikslais, eskizais.
Ši knyga pristato vieną garsiausių ispanų menininkų - Goją. Labai produktyvų, daugybę stilių išbandžiusį ir juose save atradusį dailininką. Knygoje ne tik jo darbai, bet ir gyvenimo istorija. Tai ir sunkios ligos, ir bėgimas nuo gimtosios šalies priešiškos politikos, ir nuostabūs gilios senatvės paveikslai. Puiki galimybė pažindintis su tapybos istorija ir jos geriausiais pavyzdžiais. Dar viena nuostabi serijos knyga.

[তানজীম রহমান · Rating 3 out of 5]

The organization of the paintings in this book is stunning.

The designer has a great eye for significance. They allotted just the right amount of space to exactly the right paintings. Works like The Witches' Flight and The Third of May, 1808 are beautifully laid out in large size and great detail, while minor works like Plate 72 from Los Caprichos or the portrait of Gaulon occupy little pockets around neatly spaced, tall-looking paragraphs.

The writing in those paragraphs, unfortunately, is generic at best. It tries to cleanly divide Goya's life into different stages, directly explains the 'meanings' of a number of paintings and takes historical context to be the most important touchpoint of art analysis. Just dull, unimaginative stuff.

But I doubt anyone will get this book for the text. And it is totally worth getting for the paintings. It also includes rough sketches, half-finished works and a lot of early paintings by the artist. A great book to have if you don't have the opportunity to look Saturn in the eyes inside a museum.

[Abhirup · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of Spanish artist Francisco de Goya makes for interesting reading. Humble beginnings, becoming a favorite of the royalty and aristocracy (in spite of often painting them unflatteringly 🙂), determined social climbing, living through a bloody war, struggling with illness, affairs - many elements of drama filled the artist's life. Constant through all of it was a passion for breaking new ground in his art and an often dark, sombre vision that makes his works distinctive. The volume does a good job of narrating his life and setting it in context of contemporary Spain and Europe. Nice illustrations of his works along with notes on their background events.