Los Caprichos

by Francisco de Goya, Philip Hofer (Introduction)

After a serious illness in 1792, Goya spent five years recuperating and preparing himself for the burst of creativity that was to follow. He read deeply in the French revolutionary philosophers. From Rousseau he evolved the idea that imagination divorced from reason produces monsters, but that coupled with reason "it is the mother of the arts and the source of their wonders." In Spain he saw a country that had abandoned reason, and he peopled Los Caprichos with the grotesque monsters that result from such an action. Plate after plate shows witches, asses, devils, and other strange creatures, many of which are caricatures of members of the society against which Goya was fighting.
The plates were first published in 1799. There are still in existence, however, six extremely rare sets of artist's proofs, considered by most who have managed to see them as infinitely superior to the work actually published. Now, for the first time, this edition reproduces one of these sets of 80 prints, together with the "Prado" manuscript, a commentary on the plates. In addition, this collection contains supplementary material to the Los Caprichos series, inlcuding a never-before-published study for Caprichos 10; three unique proofs of plates probably intended for publication with the others; a preliminary drawing for plate I, a self-portrait of Goya (which appears as the frontispiece to this volume); and a unique proof of "Woman in Prison" which may represent an earlier version of Caprichos 32.

Genres: Art, Spain, Horror, Nonfiction, 18th Century, Classics, Politics

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1799

About the author

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was an Aragonese Spanish painter and printmaker. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown and a chronicler of history. He has been regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. The subversive and subjective element in his art, as well as his bold handling of paint, provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, notably Manet and Picasso.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book that opened my eyes to the power of art...powerful and horrifying. Goya is able to take all the ugliness that we try so hard to hide and give it form. I think this is 'proto-Surrealism' - one could argue that the hallucinatory images exist in that fevered realm that divides dreams and reality.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goya was in a kind of slump of sorts, dismayed by society, and he needed a bump somehow, so he took some time to read a lot, especially into philosophy, and then made a set of 80 prints, Los Caprichos, or The Caprices. This was 1797 and 1798, and the album of it was published the following year. It was kind of a cultural critique and possibly satire, focused on the ruling class, and the church, so it feels like Rabelais or Swift at times but he skewers superstition and ignorance of all kinds and across all classes. Has surreal or fantastical elements, but especially the grotesque is everywhere present, with a splash of tenderness. Fascinating artist, but this work is especially remarkable.

Take a look at them here:

http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/...

[Nate D]

Francisco Goya as mad mythologer and social scientist. Apparently this 1799 set of 80 prints begins, after a long illness and study of the French Revolution, his more developed later period, as shown in the unsettling qualities and symbolic density of many of the prints here. The set sold only 27 copies at the equivalent of about $35 before political outcry stopped their sales. (It's not so hard to see why this might have been). Lots to poke at an mull over here. Goya was far ahead of his time.

[Jeff Lewonczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite having dipped into this many times over the years, I'd never sat down and actually experienced it cover to cover. What a weird, wonderful, disturbing, humorous, haunting piece of work! Some of the images are classics on their own (esp. "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters"), but to consider all 80 plates as a single unit was eye-opening and inspiring, and a window onto a past teetering between superstition and modernity. I'll be revisiting it again many times in the years to come.

SIDE NOTE: I'm overwhelmingly inspired to learn that Goya embarked on this work in his early 50s, after an extended illness, and that it was only the beginning of his true blossoming as an artist. There's hope yet!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goya kicks against the pricks. His etchings are fierce social critiques of authority: judges, religious figures, aristocrats, and merchants. His satire is aimed at some of the most important institutions of the era, including the Inquisition, the prison system, marriage, and the courts. As always, his etchings are fluid and eye-catching. He reveals delicate detail and stark shades of heavy contrast with equal skill. There is a magnetic beauty to his art, even when portraying the vilest, ugliest, and most horrifying characters or scenes. This is grotesque aesthetics of the highest level -- a book to return to again and again, especially relevant for me as an American living through this era of political buffoonery, social public shaming, and reactionary rhetoric to all expression, especially the arts.

[Brad Harkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This and "The Magic Pudding" were the best books I read this year, for very different reasons. Los Caprichos is a book of Goya's prints (a medium to which he was fairly new at this point in his life), accompanied by short captions. They are fantastic (in a fantasy sense). Allegorical, critical, biting. Much of it is social criticism, or political criticism masked in the fantastic so he could avoid the Inquisition. Anyway, I'm reading/looking at it again. This one I might go through 2 or 3 times. Also has lead me to another biography of Goya that I'm just reading the chapters on Los Caprichos. I recommend.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Goya's work, and it is a great time of year for it, coming up on Halloween. This collection of plates are disturbing and occasionally scathing to Goya's immediate social sphere at the time of publication. He just barely avoided the Inquisition as a result of the work. The etchings are very dark, yet moving pieces. They are almost a twisted Aesop's fables of the world as seen by Goya.

[Tighy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the brain is hurt by an accident, or the mind disordered by dreams or sickness, the fancy is overrun with wild dismal ideas, and terrified with a thousand hideous monsters of its own framing. - Joseph Addison, 'On the Pleasures of the Imagination'

[Marcus Mennes · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are numerous clues scattered about this collection of pictorial fables; symbols intended to provoke mental excitement, layers of unconscious innuendo, and an appreciation of puns.

Here is my interpretation of print #60 -- "The Trials"

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil...

caption: little by little she is making progress. She is already making her first steps and in time she will know as much as her teacher

It doesn't require much in the way of advanced deduction to recognize the couple is naked, and both are levitating just above the ground. We can infer from the caption the man is a teacher and the woman his pupil, in which case this might be considered a gruesome portrayal of the expression" "I'd like to pick your brain." Indeed, the student reaches inside the teacher's ear cavity as though she was scooping the insides of a pumpkin. We can assume, given her open eyes and the smirk that doubles as a smile on her face, that she enjoys her studies. The artist has given her an ecstatic purpose. She is hungry for knowledge and is buoyed up in her pursuit. The teacher, conversely, is suspended in animation. He holds on to his student's ear for support. His other hand reaches out for something on the ground. Perhaps he has dropped his lesson plan...?

The more ominous symbols are in the center of the etching where the cat and shadowy goat-headed figure are framed in opposition. Both creatures stare directly at the viewer. The cat looks in the know, one serious minded cat. This isn't intended as personification, but rather a reflection of the artist's direct gaze at the viewer, as if the cat were struck by thought, the kind approaching sentience. Meanwhile the gloomy, goat-headed figure lurking in the background represents something abstract like the arcane specter of the teacher's wisdom. Certainly it brings a sinister aspect to the scene. If you examine the goat head close up with a magnifying glass...a third eye appears in the center of its forehead, and if you look even closer you can see the chromatic, rotating, pinwheel of its insanity. Perhaps this cyclopic devil-goat is levitating the teacher with its powers of mind control...?

Then again, maybe I am reading too much into this...

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended Companion Volume to Seattle Art Museum Graphic Masters Exhibit 2016. Short Intro. Complete Set. Not full size. More background and commentary would be helpful but beyond scope of dense tight structure.

[L S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grotesque and awesome!

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! These are awesome and disturbing.

[Lee Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn't really "reviewable" beyond "dios mio!"

[Eugene Goodale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inexpensive reference book for this wonderfully macabre look at Spanish culture of his time.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

this reminds me of Reverend Bizarre

[Deusdedit Diez De Sollano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los Caprichos completos en reproducciones bastante fieles, aunque es un libro carente de un análisis profundo salvo la introducción.

[_ArtsyChild · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting paintings. Sadly this edition didn’t include any “extra” content that could help the reader understand or know a few facts about the inspiration or work behind the artist.

The paintings did indeed get darker and darker in theme, which is quite interesting the fact that he pin pointed abusers that are related and connected to the church and religion. Doing this in the late 18th century is quite impressive.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as compelling or as opinion forming as The Disasters of War; more subtlty and allusion.

[Lulu]

1799 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_c...

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of these masterpieces.

[Petter Gran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Te preocupa estar solo?