La Tauromaquia (The Bull Fighting Series) Plate 3
1876 Drypoint Etching & Aquatint

#B1016

Francisco de Goya (1746-1848)

Full Title: The Moors settled in Spain, giving up the superstitions of the Qur'an, adopted this hunt and art, spear a bull in the field 
Published 1876
Drypoint Etching & Aquatint on Paper
23.5"x16.5" framed, 12.25"x8" unframed 

Unsigned. Framed in a custom-built contemporary closed-corner wood frame with silvering leaf and decorative detailing using white 8-ply archival matting behind conservation clear glass. Good vintage condition with some paper discoloration along the left hand side.

From the estate of Edyth and Phillip Bassett.

Francisco de Goya was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. Born during an era of major political and social change in Europe, as the Enlightenment led up to the French Revolution and a completely new era in history. Accordingly, he strove to capture the human experience in new ways, not flinching from very dark themes, as in his set of prints titled The Disasters of War (1810-1820) or his famous Black Paintings (1819-1823). He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and throughout his long career was a commentator and chronicler of his era. Immensely successful in his lifetime, Goya is often referred to as both the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. He was also one of the great portraitists of his time. He studied painting from age 14 under José Luzán y Martinez and moved to Madrid to study with Anton Raphael Mengs. Goya became a court painter to the Spanish Crown in 1786 and this early portion of his career is marked by portraits of the Spanish aristocracy and royalty, and Rococo style tapestries designed for the royal palace.

Goya’s work is held in major art institutions around the world such as the Norton Simon Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and most notably the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain. There is also a museum dedicated to the artists work located in Castres, France. 

The print featured in our collection is from La Tauromaquia (Bullfighting), a series of 33 prints published in 1816. The works of the series depict bullfighting scenes. Goya created Tauromaquia between 1815 and 1816, at the age of 69, during a break from his famous series The Disasters of War, using techniques of etching and aquatint. The artist focuses on the violent scenes that take place in the bullring and the daring movements of the bullfighters. 

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