• Visual Art & Museums

    Goya's Caprichos - Dreams of Reason and Madness

    Goya's Caprichos - Dreams of Reason and Madness Image gallery

    San Jose Museum of Art

    January 26-April 20, 2008

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    Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco de Goya y Lucientes profoundly influenced the foundation of Modern art by representing contemporary social and political upheavals in works such as Los Caprichos and The Disasters of War. Born in Fuendetodos, Spain, in 1746, Goya began painting at the age of 14. After studying art in Madrid and Rome, Goya returned to his hometown of Zaragoza to work with Francisco Bayeu. Under Bayeu's mentorship, Goya painted cartoons that became tapestry patterns for Spain's Royal Tapestry Workshop. Goya's career was solidified at age 40 when he was appointed court painter to King Carlos III, and a handful of royal commissions led to numerous portraits of the Spanish aristocracy. A prolonged fever left the artist completely deaf in 1793, and he turned to reading, particularly about the burgeoning French Revolution. He became engrossed in the study of the human condition and the denunciation of social abuses and corruption. For choosing to delve beyond representations of religion, mythology, and history, Goya is often recognized as the first modern artist. Goya created Los Caprichos, a series of eighty etchings, during a period of both national and personal difficulty. Spain was going through a time of social repression and economic distress; meanwhile Goya was coping with the loss of his hearing. The resultant prints portray goblins and monks, aristocrats and prostitutes and other characters enacting themes such as the excesses of the nobility, the Spanish Inquisition, and the corruption of the church. Despite the real political liberalism that lies behind this work and the artist's own aversion to ignorance and intellectual oppression, Goya's characters themselves exist somewhere between actuality and fantasy. In fact, the term "capricho" can be translated as a "whim," a "fantasy or an expression of imagination." Goya used this whimsy to portray a nation on the margins of reason, exploiting ironic humor to convey a profound censure against human corruption and evil. Goya produced three hundred sets of Los Caprichos but he only managed to sell thirty-seven. The Duke of Osuna acquired four sets of Los Caprichos, one of which constitutes the majority of this exhibition. This particular set of eighty prints also contains the collector's mark of Pedro Fernandez Duran, the greatest Spanish collector of the 19th century and a major donor to the Prado, to whom they belonged at one point. This exhibition presents Los Caprichos alongside modern and contemporary reinterpretations of this body of work, including a 1920s drawing by Edward Hagedorn, and etchings by Enrique Chagoya from the 1990s. Goya's Caprichos: Dreams of Reason and Madness was organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, in association with Denenberg Fine Arts, West Hollywood, CA.

    • Ticket Info

      Tickets: $5-$8
      Children under 6 free
      SJMA Members free

      Info Phone: 408-271-6840

    • Dates & Times

      Dates:
      January 26-April 20, 2008

      Times:
      Tue-Sun: 11am-5pm
      Closed Monday and all holidays

    • Venue Info

      San Jose Museum of Art

      110 South Market Street San Jose, CA 95113

      Full map and directions

    • Accessibility Info
      • Wheelchair Access

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