Goya

Like the late works of Beethoven, the graphic art of Goya seems to transcend the limits of style and arrive at an absolute. The parallel is interesting because both men produced their greatest works shut off from the world of sound. Misfortune no doubt seemed endless in Goya's case: he lost his famous mistress, the Duchess of Alba, soon after he lost his hearing. But in spite of the compounded misfortunes, there was some compensation. It was just about this time that he was really finding himself as an artist. His etchings follow the last developments, describing the concerns and compositional techniques of his full genius.

In this sense the exclusion of all but two of Goya's paintings in the current exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts is to be regretted but not condemned. There is really more than enough for two or three visits in this huge collection of drawings, 129 of which are from the Prado and Lazaro Galdiano Museums in Madrid, and the rest from the rich local resources.

Spain at the end of the 18th century, as it figures in Goya's first series of etchings, Los Caprichos, was still in the clutches of an aggressive Church and absolute monarchy. The tragic and absurd position of the Grandees remained much as they are described in Don Quixote. But it was the people instead of the nobility who now played the exaggerated gallants, in imitation of the upper classes. Superficially Goya's criticisms of foppery, greed, or ignorance are typical of enlightened 18th century humor. But no one can fail to sense the darker moralism, especially in the demoniac fantasy of the second half of this set. The satire is direct when compared to the Proverbs, yet the allusions to man's bestiality go beyond simple remarks on human foibles to a statement of original sin.

Fantasy almost all but disappears in the second set of etchings which Goya did in the period of the Napoleonic invasions. The world around the artist had become so full of horror that reality was in truth stranger than fiction.

Instead of dwelling on the nobility of generals and the heroism of soldiers, Goya, in these striking works entitled Disasters of War, portrays the stupidity and cruelty of war. His extravagant Spanish pride was able to look through the tragedy and laugh at the "barbarians" that had attacked his country.

Compositionally, the Disasters concentrate on action to the extent of losing visual balance. Goya exaggerates gesture to heighten emotion or point a message. In "No se Puede Mirar" for example, Goya shows who the ends of rifles can outbalance human beings.

La Tauromaquia continues the theme of war and the dark figure of the bull dominates these drawings. In two of the works Goya describes how man has fought this dark creature from time immemorial. In another, he shows that when the bull gets loose he massacres people in the stands. This oldest of Spanish sports, while artistically compelling, was more than a technical exercise for Goya; it contained rampant symbolism.

Of all Goya's works, the Proverbios or Disparities (nonsense), which were completed immediately following the Disasters of War, remain of special interest to admirers of the artist's work. Harrassed by royal authorities for the frankness of his earlier prints, he undertook these etchings, which he dedicated to the King, maintaining that they meant nothing at all. They seem to have been designed to go undeciphered until long after the artist's life. Recent interpretations conclude that these drawings contain the deepest of Goya's philosophy, in very exacting symbolism.

The museum is also showing a short film in connection with this exhibition daily at 2 p.m.