Fantasies, Follies and Disasters, The Prints of Francisco de Goya
This exhibition shows some of the fantastic prints of Francisco de Goya, even thought this exhibition is small there is loads to look at, you could star at one of Goya’s prints for ages to work out what’s really happening in the print they are dark and eerie, but there is more to Goya’s etchings that first meets the eye. There is depth to these prints you have to look closer at them and really look in to the detail of these small prints.
The subject matter of these works is about fantasy, war and follies I like the idea of fantasy and that anything could happen in his etchings but they seem to be horrifying and disturbing. The purpose of the exhibition is to present a surreal situation which you can relate to it involves the audience and draws them to look closer at the etchings.
Some of Goya’s most famous print were war subjects, Disparate de Miedo (Folly of Fear) is also about war and death. Some of his famous war subjects were horrifying they had a representation of violence and torture.
This collection was made up of 30 etchings, he has also used aquatint and dry point, they are all framed at around eye level equally spaced and at the same height, the collection also has a piece in the middle which is by Jake a Dino Chapman, called the Disasters of war this was inspired by Goya’s etchings.
‘The works are all drawn from Manchester Art Gallery’s superb collections, and have not been exhibited together as a group for over 20 years. It includes over 90 rare first-edition examples of etchings which were purchased in the early 1980s.’ press release,18.03.2010, www.manchestergalleries.org is great that these prints have been shown again in a group to let new generations appreciate them as well.
The display is a great way to look at the etchings and relate to the Chapman’s piece in the middle it lets you look at the work then refer to Disasters of war after looking at each one. This was an interesting way of looking at the exhibition as you have both 3d and 2d illustrations and you are able to look all the way around the Chapman’s piece which gives you a perspective of the work.
The exhibition was disturbing and existing, I like to look at fantasy and the stories behind it I like trying to work out what’s happening in the image, there is a fear corruption and inhumanity which reflects on the war poverty and the hatred. It was believed that this has come from his illness which left him death. He has an extraordinary imagination which he illustrates satire and cruelty which defines his work in this medium.
Francisco de Goya, Modo de volar (A Way of Flying) 1828
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