Thursday, October 21, 2010
Goya
FINALLY the photo upload function of this blog is working again. I feel all backed up with things that have been happening here in Beijing, but I couldn't do anything while Google had their system screwed up.
But first - a diversion to an exhibit of Goya drawings, here in Beijing:
You can find an Alliance Francaise in ‘most any city, promoting the French language and culture. Likewise, Spain promotes itself at replicated Instituto Cervantes centers. The Center in Beijing is featuring a posh exhibition of drawings by Goya. Goya, the incredible painter of masterful monsters and misfits, one of the three greatest Spanish artists (Goya, Valezquez, and El Greco – and whether Picasso should be considered Spanish or French is another discussion). I wasn’t familiar with Goya drawings, so was glad for this opportunity to see them.
The exhibition is built around some 82 aquatint etchings , all fairly small, maybe 8x10” and very detailed, which makes you wish you had a magnifying glass to really inspect them up close. And as works of art, they are fabulous. His use of contrast and the power of the images he creates with very few lines is astounding. This is supplemented with a video of war photojournalism, information about Goya himself, and his techniques.
Pairs of drawings like this one showed how Goya both simplified the image and made it more intense in its final presentation
Details of faces from Goya's drawings
The next reaction that hits you is to shudder at the subject matter. These works are raw, and savage. He does not spare the viewer. The exhibition is titled “Goya, Chronicler of All Wars” and as one announcement understates: “The exhibit explores the connections between Francisco de Goya’s famous Los Desastres and current images of war”. Some are of the “Heroic Men at War” variety, but it ends with a large section portraying the victims of war – soldiers but especially civilians – missing faces, butchered babies, dismembered corpses, sexual mutilation….
The Goya drawings were made at the invitation of a Spanish General who invited artists to view and record the devastation of the War for Independence (1808-1814). In this way, the drawings are presented as precursors to war photojournalism, and this is illustrated with a strong documentary showing the work of war photographers in a chronological sequence through WWII, ending with Viet Nam, as current images of war.
This history got me to reading about this war – also called the Peninsular War. It seems to have been a model for the success of irregular fighting units against organized armies, and was the source of the term guerilla warfare (the Spanish “guerra de guerillas” translates as the “war of little wars”). Given the daily news of our ongoing wars, the topic of this exhibition hardly seems coincidental --- but, why here in Beijing of all places?
Anyway, quite a surprise detour, coming in the middle of my Art Tour of Beijing.
