The Black Paintings by Goya (Part Two): Great Art Explained
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- Опубликовано: 1 июн 2024
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To understand Francisco Goya's Black Paintings, we need to understand how he went from a popular well-loved royal portrait artist to painting deeply disturbing imagery on the bare walls of his house in total isolation.
In Part Two, I look at his series of etchings, 'The Disasters of War' and his Black Paintings.
In 1819, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, commonly known as Goya, was a successful and celebrated artist. Then suddenly, he withdrew from public life, left Madrid and the Royal Court behind, and moved into a farmhouse in the countryside.
His wife and most of his friends were dead and he had become isolated. He was 73-years old, sick, and completely deaf. His long life was coming to a close… BUT he wasn’t finished yet. The man who had once painted crucifixions, miracles, saints, and priests, now painted terrifying, demonic, raw and brutal works - works without even a hint of God.
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"What a brilliant series this is" - Stephen Fry on Twitter 12 December 2020
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BOOKS
Goya: A Portrait of the Artist by Tomlinson and Janis
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Goya`s Graphic Imagination by Mark Mcdonald, Mercedes Cerón-peña, et al.
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I really appreciate how you refuse to accept that this is just madness. That's such an unproductive way of looking at these. Your method of placing them within the intellectual and political world that produced them is so much better. Thank you.
Agreed. He was clearly one of the few who was not mad. He refused to be blinded by bigotry and hate.
I really appreciate his struggle to pronounce "No hay quién los socorra". 5/5, would make him speak spanish again.
Omg when I first started reading this I thought you were trying to say that these paintings are purely madness-driven and I just got so mad 😂 whoops!
I wouldn't call it unproductive, I would call it deliberate. Goya's thoughts were dangerous for the powerful and their regimes, and I would go as far as to say they still are. Emptying social and political critique via "madness" has been done over and over again. Let us not permit it ever again.
i think bro was just insane
The political and historical references you inject into every video is why I enjoy your break downs. Thank you for all the hard work and well structured videos.
Thanks 🙏
Yes. Art is better understood when viewed in its time frame and social context.
Severe nonconformity is often perceived as madness. I agree with Goya
Yes
This comment wins
These two episodes may be your best and most powerful yet. I honestly teared up. What a remarkable artist and what a life to live. To witness all this, to see the horror we humans can afflict on each other so clearly. The dog painting broke me.
Please like and leave a comment. It really helps promote the channel - thank you
Thank you so much for these videos. They themselves are art. Your way to deepen our understanding of these masters of old and the tales they have to tell is just incredible. Subbed for life.
Just so you know, it's San Isidro (San is the male form of Saint) and SanTA Isidora (Santa is the female form of Saint). I'm pointing it out because it looks and sounds jarring to anyone who speaks Spanish but it's easy to overlook for an English speaker.
Thanks for the wonderful content! Please, keep it up!
I got you man
Love your work. Please do Keith Haring next!
Hi! I love your videos and they’ve inspired me to look more into art and develop a deeper appreciation for it. Recently I thought about African art bc it seems like it’s never touched on, and I searched on RUclips about it but couldn’t find any videos. Can you make some videos regarding pieces from African art?
Went to Madrid two months and thanks to your detailed explanations within the political and cultural environment of the time I visited museums just to see many of these paintings and re-discover them. Thank you and glad to support your channel with donations.
Thanks for your support 🙏
Just witnessed the black paintings at the Prado Museum, I agree the drowned dog painting disturbed me the most. The utter hopelessness magnified by the large empty spaces is truly terrifying.
You truly are my favourite youtube content creator. Your dedication to explaining all facets of painting is really second to none. Hope you continue on this track, you are an inspiration!
Thanks 🙏
I agree. Top tier videos. Definitely in my top 3 YT channels
@@GreatArtExplained You really are man. Imagine all of this, for some of us so distant, inexisting perhaps, and you bring it. Not only you do, but you bring it to us like a true maestro. No words can say how grateful some of us could be for this.
Goya's transformation, his hopelessness... is just so human. The way you portrayed his life and paintings makes it easy to identify with him, with the old man who was forced to remain quiet, to give up, but the same who found in a canvas much relief, even while thinking those paintings would never be seen. Beautiful.
Thank you, James, for opening my heart to Goya! To be honest, for the longest time I had been scared of his black paintings and even found some of them repulsive. Now I see that Goya was a sensitive and compassionate man who had seen horrible things no human being should ever witness. His only way of dealing with it was his art. I feel deeply touched and you're to "blame" 😘.
Aloha from Berlin ❤🧡💛💚💙
I have been impatiently waiting for this one. These paintings have a very deliberate quality about them it's unfathomable how anyone can think they're the product of madness. Thank you so much for this video.
While it's undeniable his mental state declined at this point, I'm glad you didn't go the lazy way of "omg he was mad man and made scary paitnign 😱" that a lot of art channels did. It's surprisingly fresh to see a not edgelord'y way of interpreting a painting with dark themes. It's a shame a lot of great artists are reduced to "oooooo spooky".
Thanks for the comment
Man. It’s really sad that Goya even had to make these, but they are full of artistic splendor and just like his disasters of war series they show the world in such a different light than his previous art. This is Really his magnum opus.
Brilliant as ever! I'm thrilled to see Goya's black paintings in a diffrent light than "he was mad".
Thanks for taking the time to explain the political and territorial chaos that defined/terrorized Goya's life, and that of all Spaniards at that time. This was highly enlightning!
Thanks 🙏
Thank you, this was brilliant. I also love that you refuse to accept that this was madness. Goya did these paintings during a mad period; you'd wonder how anyone survived with all the purges and murders. I was just out and talking with some friends who are politically active and I mentioned this video, how you discussed how Goya painted these works but no one saw them for 35 years, about the danger of doing political art. What we didn't mention is that political art is extremely difficult to do; its formal qualities have to do the heavy lifting and it's very difficult to avoid putting off the very audience you want to address. There have been great political artists since Goya but these works are still some of the best political works ever, and in my opinion the best works he ever did.
That’s a great comment and spot on - thanks 🙏
This Goya series has been incredible , love learning about art without having to go to a college for it.
Two days ago I visited the Prado Museum in Madrid and I witnessed The Black Paintings. I say "witnessed" as this is exactly what it felt like. It wasn't merely looking at a painting, briefly experiencing it and moving on to the next one... It was a submerging and a carrying of the subject matter/s as it worked changes inside your soul.
The Drowning Dog is right at the center of the room - It breaks but it also reminds...
Each of your videos is a masterclass in art. But this 2 part series tops them all. Thank you for this James. Such a unique and important perspective and still relevant to our times. This is what art is about!
Thanks for the comment!
14:00 how intriguing to learn that our world, precarious as it is now, was WORSE not so very long ago.
Goya, in his own uniquely wonderful way, expresses it so magnificently. It seeps out of him onto the walls of HIS HOME...because that is all he had, and he was fortunate enough to have that when so many were executed just because they were the "wrong" religion or ethnic group or just were too loud or too much.
Your insights have taught me so much, thank you! This particular series was well worth the wait!
Besides 'Saturn Devouring His Son', I find Goya's 'Drowning Dog' the next most memorable painting by him. It's not as visually shocking or terrifying as the other Black Paintings, but there was always something ambiguously poignant where 2/3 of the painting is just a vast emptiness, and the dog's expression is in a conflict between both hope and hopelessness.
Overall, thanks for covering these paintings! It was refreshing to see a different angle compared to other analysis videos, the restoration angle was something that I didn't think of and don't think anyone has mentioned it yet!
As someone living through an unfair war from the nearest place, I find these comforting weridly. Art and their messages, the feelings they give off to me makes me realize we are making a history and we might be able to recover from all these. The world I live in is falling apart slowly. People are burned alive, kids are shot to death, men and women might get r1ped and killed anytime. Art is the only console I can find in this dark times. It is unfair we have to go through this without any powerful country's help... But well, I learned a lot from this period.
I saw the Saturn painting in a book when I was a kid, and I remember I thought it was so shocking and disturbing and outrageous. But it's nothing compared to the Drowning Dog. That one is utterly tragic. Thank you for making these videos, they are very educational.
Long time viewer, first time commenter - I went to El Prado a few weeks ago and was so excited to see your vid on Goya. Brought such a new perspective, context and color to appreciating Goya and his art. The historical context is also super helpful - you make me fall in love with art all over again. Please keep doing these :) Masterclass on art in a digestible way. Thank you!
For youtube: This is top shelf content. Remove restrictions, list these videos at the top of everyone's feed and throw ad money at it this channel!
For James: You are doing incredible work. Condensing the intimidating subject of art history into manageable and enjoyable increments does more to interest the masses in the subject than any "great courses."
Thanks Christian for the nice comment 🙏
Hi! I wanted to say thank you for all the work you do here. I was never good at painting in school (still find it boring though :) ). Thus I actually never thought I would learn to appreciate painting as a sublime human emotional expression, although I am very sensitive towards music as an art form. Your channel has opened ways for me to express and understand so much about me and the world around, that I never thought possible. I am so eager and excited to visit Gemäldegalerie in Berlin in November to see (and feel) works by Caravaggio and Vermeer. Thank you again for your amazing work!
In many ways this channel combines my love for Geopolitical History and Art!!
I saw some of these paintings in the Prado museum in Madrid. They made a huge impact on me, however I never knew the back story. Thank you so much for this very interesting video!
I loved Goya Part I…didn’t think it was possible but Goya Part II is even better. The part that was so un-nerving for me is how relevant Goya’s work is TODAY. So many similarities and one can only hope we don’t see the same type of authoritarianism that he saw.
Your work is fantastic, James, very well done and look forward to the next one!
one can only hope we don’t see the same type of authoritarianism that he saw.
when did it go away?
It might be of interest to note that la Quinta del Sordo, the 'country home' to which Goya fled to live in isolation, is only a few hundred feet from the Madrid's Royal Palace. The palace sits on a hill on the other side of the Manzanares and would have loomed from just beyond the opposite bank. His paintings of the Feast of Saint Isidore take place in the fields that stretched from where the house was to the southwest of the city. I live in the neighbourhood, which (apart from Casa de Campo slightly to the north) is obviously now densely populated for many miles into the distance. It's fascinating and terribly sad to think of Goya living in the shadow of the city he had been forced to flee and to see the festivals he had once so enjoyed grown dark and spoiled under it.
That’s great information - I tried to find the exact location on google maps but couldn’t, so it’s even more interesting to know he could see the palace! I’ll include that info when I get round to making my full-length film - thanks William 🙏
@@GreatArtExplained you're very welcome. To give an idea and to help you locate the site in maps, a museum (now closed, unfortunately) existed to commemorate his time in the house at C. de Baena, 8, 28011 Madrid. The layout of the area has changed a lot, of course, and I understand that the actual site of the house was in fact nearer the area of this present-day address: C. de Saavedra Fajardo, 32, 28011 Madrid.
As a side note, if you're ever visiting Madrid (which I'm a big advocate for, of course), as well as visiting the Prado to see the collection of Goyas, I would add that the city has an otherwise excellent record of preserving artists' and patrons' homes - do visit the Museo Cerralbo and the Museo Sorolla. It would also be a pleasure to shake your hand and congratulate you on this wonderful series!
@@long-shotlouie Thanks for this info! I was in Madrid 3 months ago for research (it will be a future Great Art Cities Explained). I love that city. Let you know when I'm back!
“Sometimes when we look for monsters we should look within ourselves” what a magnificent line to end this magnificent video. I absolutely love your channel!
Never heard of the political angle to the Black Paintings before. Wonderful work, well worth the wait. Thank you, James!
I am so thankful you are doing these videos. I always went into museums and never understood anything about the pictures there. No museum really explains pictures and why they are so valued. Only through your indepth analysis I finally was able to understand and connect the dots. Now going to a museum is a complete different experience.
I'm always frustrated when I go to art museums and just come up with nothing to think. It seems I can't appreciate them well. Then afterwards, maybe with some research, I start coming up with thoughts and opinions. I then start appreciating the work. Strange.
I once saw the Disasters of War in person and they're relatively small but even more striking in person. I know art galleries are usually quiet anyway, but there was an even higher level of solemnity in the atmosphere of that room. I look at those pictures sometimes to give myself a reality check, as they really do shock you back into humanity when you're consumed with pride/jealousy etc
Absolutely fabulous series! You are an incredible biographer and art historian; I'm so happy this channel exists.
Thanks 🙏
I was lucky enough to see many of his black paintings in zaragoza and a later on a big exhibition at the prado museum in Madrid . I was astonish of the scale of his body of work and his ability of composition ... he definitely was a MASTER.
I never knew I could be so interested in art history ... Having gone back to watch all of these videos I find myself fascinated! Thanks.
The part about having to repaint certain parts after peeling them off the wall made me think and I think a video on the absolute botching of Ecce Homo by Elías García Martínez. It could be really interesting to explore its history, the dangers of restoration and other things!
The Black Paintings are truly shocking. I experienced them in Pardo last August and still have them on my mind. Thanks for the explanation, it gives you a deeper understanding of this troubled stage of Goya's art.
I just visited El Prado in Madrid and saw many of these live, they take your breath away and you can’t do more than sit there and be absorbed by the darkness, you can feel it in the room.
Thanks for providing context and history to artworks that too often are reduced to stock images in horror movies
Commenting for the Algorithm. Thanks for all the brillant work you provide free of charge!
So I think the "problem" was that Goya was too aware and sane
Great job as always! Thank you so much 💜
Phenomenal video about a very special artist with an extremely complicated POV about the world around him. Thank you so much. Please never stop creating such great content.
Thanks for your support 🙏
Thank you so much for this interesting analysis. It gave me a better understanding of what I saw just three days ago in the Prado. The painting of the execution of Torrijos was one of my favourites in the museum (together with Bosch).
I have to take a break and reflect on your last words. Thank you for introducing me to Goya and his paintings. I'd never look at art as something only fancy and abstract. Goya's paintings are shining examples of art that imparts harsh and brutal truth.
Little have I seen in days of late; such energy and clear enthusiasm for the Art so wonderfully conveyed! this, my dear sir, has garnered me with much energy evermore, God bless you.
Thank you so much, James for your great works especially when Goya is one of my most favorite painters. And I’m sorry that the video got demonetised, but I truly wish that this didn’t make demotivated, because I truly always wait for your videos. Thank you, thank you ❤
I'm currently in the process of writing a research paper on Goya's Black Paintings, and I just wanted to thank you for this series of videos as they've been immensely helpful to my research! I sincerely appreciate your succinct but impactful presentation
The way Saturn stares at you........ like youre looking into a mirror. Goya is incredible
I truly thank you for these videos. I too saw the black paintings in The Prado earlier this year and it triggered an obsession with Goya’s art and his fascinating life.
Your videos are so thoughtful and well executed, I hope you see more success with your channel!
This is a valuable and honorable thing that you are doing with these videos. Thank you
Thanks for watching
Better than anything on Netflix. Amazing.
A shame of me for not having written this under every one of your videos... but thank you for your work and efforts!
Oh thanks 🙏
Goya is so inspiring. His entire life he painted with deep emotion through trauma and in isolation. He kept expressing and telling such amazing statements of truth.
Such an incredible video I’d been eagerly awaiting this after part 1. Favorite channel on RUclips!
Some of the best content on youtube, thanks for all your hard work on these! Top quality as always~
Must have been hard to make these videos, much harder than for us to just look at and learn about them with your profound background information. Thank you for all your wonderful work!
Thanks for watching 🙏
Leaving a comment to feed the algorithm beast. Also, and more importantly, to express how absolutely well done and important these analysis are.
Another incredible video. They are so well researched you can take these as facts to the bank.
I love how you clearly and convincingly explain why you feel Goya wasn’t losing his mental faculty. To me it indeed seems he’s mentally all there, but stuck in a terrible loop of horror with only one way to express himself.
I love coming back to these videos
Thanks for all the great videos, it's so rare to find essayists with genuine care into a topic even when the situation doesn't demand it. Keep up the good work ;)
Love how you explore the the society Goya lived in and how it influenced his art. His paintings are so dark and frightening yet I can't stop looking at them.
Saturn Devouring His Son was one of my favorite paintings as a kid . I love it even more now that I know Goya most likely gazed at it while enjoying a meal, hahahha. Beauty is in the macabre.
Third time watching this video. I can’t help but draw parallels to our modern time. This is depressing and hard to watch but we are obligated to learn Goya’s lessons.
I rarely comment on videos but I feel like you’re doing such important work! I adore how you analyze all art with no prejudice, as sometimes it feels like many people look at modern art and immediately write it off. I love that you go into each painting/artist and the time period to make us understand why the art is considered a masterpiece. I also like how you aren’t afraid to ‘get political’ as your mention of the abolitionist hint in the raft of the Medusa surprised me! I’ve had to do multiple essays on the painting and never found any mention of it! Tysm for your videos and I eagerly refresh ur page every week!
I’m an illustration major in college and I’m often worrying about how I can support myself as an artist or how I’ll be able to reach and audience. Watching ur videos reminds me that art is valuable regardless if people like it or if it meets conventional standards of what ‘real art’ is. Thank you.
Thanks for the great comment Yassmin 🙏
these videos genuinely are masterworks. incredibly underrated, deserving of much much more
Thanks 🙏
I love your work!
I love your work!
It's so helpful in my understanding European Art and what they mean to us, however, I am from Africa and I am fascinated by European Art.
Thanks 🙏
Thank you for the extensive elaboration and cover of the history of Goya and the context, excellent video
I love your pedagogical approach to explaining these works of art. I know the purview of this channel is art visual arts, but you teased us with movie image with the scene from Abel Gance's Napoleon, a Silent Era masterpiece. I, for one, would love to hear your thoughts on early Silent Film, as the pioneers of the new medium often associated and influenced by the visual artists of the time (ex: the German expressionists of the Weimar Republic).
I really like your interpretation of Saturn eating his son. And the video in general. You're awesome. Thanks!
Thanks 🙏
Absolutely stunning narrative on the life of a master artist. Your closing comments left me in tears.
Wow. This is your best work yet James. Thank you for this gift. 🙏
I’ve always liked / been drawn to Goya, but never really known why. Your clear narrative has helped a lot. Thank you.
Thank you for deep dive into this artist and his works. I am a great lover of history and love that art can expand our understanding of these events.
I knew there'd have to be a new video by now! And two parts to boot! Why does RUclips not suggest these to me? I've watched literally every video on this channel :(
Do you have your notifications on?
@@GreatArtExplained Turned them on now, thanks! But my point was the algorithm of this multi-billion dollar company should know I want to see these videos😁
@@Lukas-bg4yn true
It is just amazing how you describe all these masterpieces and the last words
were indescribable…
Great analysis, never seen the paintings in person, but you descriptions makes me feel as if I were in front of them IRL
Truly excellent. This two-part video on Goya is probably among your best so far.
This has been one of my favorite RUclips channels in recent years. I get excited when I see a new upload and the quality of the content is amazing.
Incredible once again, Thank-you so so much for this incredible video. I watched it twice as I was so invested. If I could have a 2 hour version, I wouldn't mind at all 👏👏
What an impressive artist, and an impressive video!
Thank you very much for these videos! Sorry to hear that art education is considered "inappropriate."
Can't wait to see it tonight!! Saw last Sunday here in São Paulo some at Tomie Ohtake Museum, an exhibition from Albertina Museum (Rhino: 5 Centuries of Engravings from the ALBERTINA Museum) which I have see few years back, and a few works from Los caprichos is there, amazing to be able to see it again !! Thanks Jame!!
Goya painted Confrontational Art with genuine execution.
This is incredible analysis! I love this video. Historical context, direct painting interpretation, great metaphor. Full package. I can’t wait to see other of your videos. Great work! I’m learning every time. This is so inspiring
Best channel on RUclips
Thanks 🙏
These paintings feel like those horror movies where the bright, cheery land turns out to be a hallucination for the gross-out reality. In the beginning, he made bright works for rich families, carrying a nuetral-happy tone. Even his 'Disaster of War' works carried a sober tone that wasn't too unusual. But the black paintings on the other hand, seem exposed. I feel like I'm not supposed to see them or the secrets they contain. They seem to expose the reality of the world as some gross, perverted horror of itself. It makes sense why Goya's considered the first modern artist since a huge chunk of us see the world that way now. Good work!
Fight with Cudgels is my favorite Goya painting and in my opinion, the greatest painting ever.
I saw Saturn in Madrid as a younger man. The visceral emotional response I experienced haunts me to this day and is contradictory as to why it’s one of my favorite pieces ever. What a fantastic explanation as why. Keep up the great work. I love the channel.
He was in so much pain and anger. It is amazing how he managed to create these complex and emotionally challenging works.If it were me ,I would have just painted the whole room in black and k*lled myself in the center for a little touch of color,if I went through that trauma );.Also the contrast between his previous works and the black paintings is truly frightening. Amazing work as always ♡
Loved both of the Goya vids, thanks for making these!
Really great videos! Thank you so much. Goya is so fascinating!
Great storytelling and is deeply insightful. You made me see these works as Goya's visual reflections.
That was so informative!! Thank you so much for another amazing video - can't wait to see who will be covered next!
As an Iranian living in such a dire time in my country... I can sympathize with Goya.
I can feel that he's neither mad nor vengeful.
I think he's just genuinely hopeless and devastated by everything he has been through, by everything he saw and probably will continue to see.
This is not blasphemous or provoking in my view... it's just an apology. A lament for all the innocent lives who died hopeless in his lifetime.
"And for what?" maybe was the question he kept asking himself...!
Thank. Probably my most favorite artist
At 14:17. Oh, damn. This one hit me the worst. I actually whined and yipped a little upon seeing it--this is the first time I've ever seen this painting. Wow. Only Rembrandt has been the one painter who has elicited almost tears out of me. Goya, you're up there now! I especially love how everything is bare, but in an innovative and modern way, like how the impressionists or Mark Rothko filled a canvas. This brown bareness signals that there is absolutely no hope in the middle of an indifferent, callous and cold universe. Poor little dog... :(
Amazing learning experience. I’ve learned to find old art that much more interesting knowing the history linked to them. Thank you
The painting of the dog is my favorite. It expresses so much. Sometimes I see a plea for help and a bit of hope in the dog's eyes. Sometimes I don't.
I had no idea of all the political commentary in these paintings. Thank you for analyzing each work in detail. Great video!
Thank you for your great, intelligent, insightful videos. Don’t let the prudery nor the hypocrisy contaminate your narrative. Great content always!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻♥️♥️♥️
The ending of this analysis was so poignant, perhaps the most of all your beautiful videos. I love the first prologue of the Madman by Kahil Gibran bc it reminds me of why this period in Goya's life was considered a form of "madness." There's something about the exposure to the truth about the monster within, no matter how enlightened the Era was. There's so much I want to say about why the paintings were "fixed" that way. Truth/monster within destroys our axiomatic beliefs, which we would rather brand truth as madness or even evil, than to stare at ourselves in "the heart of darkness."