"Whims" by Francisco Goya

"Caprichos" (Spanish: Los Caprichos - "whims") - the famous series of 80 etchings, which was created by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya in 1799. A notice of this event appeared in one of the Madrid newspapers almost immediately after the first 300 copies of the Caprichos went on sale: “Senior Francisco de Goya produced a series of etchings on fantastic subjects. From all the oddities and absurdities inherent in our society, from the numerous prejudices and delusions, the author selected those that seemed to him the most suitable for fantastic and at the same time instructive pictures. Señor de Goya is far from intending to touch certain persons and events with mockery or condemnation, his goal is to stigmatize typical traits, vices and perversions inherent in many ... "

Most of the people who came to see the "Caprichos" for sale did not learn from them, did not draw knowledge, they only leafed through the contents of the folder with etchings in bewilderment. I wonder how our contemporaries will react to the next publication of "Caprichos"?

(Total 26 photos)

1. Having determined the order in which the sheets would lie, and numbering the etchings, Goya began to come up with names for them. If the name turned out to be too "pale", he added a short interpretation to it. "Tantalum" - this is the name he gave to the drawing, in which the lover grieves over the dead, secretly watching his beloved, and ridiculed himself in explaining himself: "If he were more courteous and less intrusive, she might come to life."

2. In this album of whimsical etchings, the artist depicted literally everything that happens to the women of the city of Madrid. They marry ugly rich men, they take advantage of amorous simpletons, they rob anyone they can rob, and they themselves are robbed by usurers. Etching "They say yes and extend their hand to the first comer" Goya commented: "The ease with which many women agree to marriage is due to the hope of living in it more freely than before."

3. “What a sacrifice!”: “As usual, the groom is not one of the most attractive, but he is rich, and at the cost of the freedom of an unfortunate girl, a poor family buys well-being. That is life".

4. “Pedigree”: “Here they try to seduce the groom, showing him by pedigree who her parents, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and great-great-grandfathers are. And who is she herself? He will find out later."

5. “She was kidnapped!”: “A woman who does not know how to keep herself is at the mercy of the first person she meets, and when there is nothing to be done, she is surprised that she was kidnapped.”

6. “Here they are plucked”: “Since they have already been plucked, let them be removed, others will come in their place.”

7. “How they pluck her!”: “But there are also kites on tiptoe who will peel them to a feather. No wonder they say: as it comes around, so it will respond.

8. Madrid women love and are kind, proudly stroll and ride in magnificent carriages, or, cringing pitifully, appear before the court for debauchery. At the same time, they are invariably surrounded by a swarm of immoral dandies, rude people and procuresses. The etching titled “One is worth another” Goya explains as follows: “There have been many disputes about who is worse: men or women. The vices of both come from a bad upbringing. The debauchery of men entails the debauchery of women. The young lady in this picture is as reckless as the dandy talking to her, and as for the two vile old women, they are worth each other.

9. “He won’t even see her anyway”: “But how can he recognize her? To get to know a woman properly, a lorgnette is not enough. We need common sense and life experience, and this is what our poor thing lacks.

10. Under the etching, in which the secretary of the holy tribunal reads the sentence to the priestess of love, Goya signed: “Is it possible to treat an honest woman so badly, who diligently and successfully served the whole world for a piece of bread and butter! Ugliness!"

11. “No one knows himself”: “Light is the same masquerade. Face, clothes and voice - everything in it is feigned. Everyone wants to seem different from what they really are. Everyone deceives each other, and you don't recognize anyone."

12. Goya makes surprisingly accurate and relevant observations even for our time regarding a variety of life situations and problems. He does not ignore the topic of raising children. The description of the etching “Here comes the beech” reads as follows: “A fatal mistake in primary education is that the child is aroused by fear of the non-existent and makes him afraid of the beeches more than the father.”

13. Etching “Careless upbringing”: “Indulgence and self-indulgence make children capricious, stubborn, arrogant, greedy, lazy, unbearable. As they grow up, they become undersized. So is this sissy."

14. “After all, he broke the jug!”: “Which of them is worse?”

15. Francisco Goya ridicules human vices: stupidity, avarice, greed, immorality, betrayal ... Etching “Isn’t the student smarter?” the artist accompanies with a well-aimed comment: “It is not known whether he is smarter or dumber, but there is no doubt that it is impossible to find a more important, thoughtful person than this teacher.”

16. Etching "Bravissimo!" Francisco Goya explains it this way: “If it is enough to have long ears for understanding, then you will not find a better connoisseur; but no matter how he began to clap something that sounds really bad.

17. “Until the third generation”: “This poor animal was driven mad by experts in heraldry and bloodlines. It is not alone."

18. “What disease will he die of?”: “The doctor is excellent, capable of reflection, concentrated, unhurried, serious. What more could you want?

19. “Exactly”: “He commissioned his portrait - and did well. Those who do not know him and have not seen him will recognize everyone by the portrait.

20. "Informers": "Of all kinds of evil spirits, informers are the most disgusting and at the same time the most ignorant in the art of witchcraft."

21. “What a tailor won’t do!”: “It is not uncommon to see how a funny freak is transformed into an inflated nonentity, empty, but very representative in appearance! Truly great is the power of a clever tailor, and just as great is the stupidity of those who judge by appearances.

22. “And his house is on fire”: “Until the fire pumps freshen him up, he will never be able to take off his pants and interrupt the conversation with the lamp. Such is the power of wine!”

23. “Why hide them?”: “The answer is very simple: because he does not want to spend them, and does not spend them because, although he is already 80, he is still afraid that he will not have enough money to live. The calculations of stinginess are so misleading.

24. "Until death" - an etching that shows us a vile, sad picture, hundreds of times sung in every way - a mockery of an aging coquette. “She preens - and very appropriately. Today is her birthday, she is 75 years old, and her girlfriends will come to her. But, however poor the idea of the drawing, in itself it is good. In this old woman, eagerly looking in the mirror, there is no annoying morality, there is no empty mockery, but there is a dispassionate, sad, simple and naked truth.

25. The second edition of "Caprichos" was published in the royal art printing house in a large edition, a set of etchings could be bought in all major Spanish cities. Caprichos sold out briskly, despite the fact that they were still incomprehensible to most. People only laid out 288 reais for a set of etchings because there was a lot of hype and chatter around them. Goya left an explanation for the etching “Everyone will die”: “Amazing! The experience of the dead does not benefit those who are on the verge of death. There's nothing you can do about it, everyone will die."

26. The material was prepared with the support of the Center for Promotion and Development of Creativity of People with Mental Disorders, Darya Evseeva evseeva-centre.ru

Information about lectures and events of the Darya Evseeva Center - evseeva-centre.ru/meropriyatiya.