Goya's Last Works

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) spent the last four years of his life living in Bordeaux with other political émigrés from Spain and South America. In those years he created small-scale, intimate pieces, including uncommissioned portraits of friends and family, miniature paintings on ivory plaques, and numerous drawings and lithographs. These works attest to the artist’s continuing vitality in his old age and also offer insight into his life in Bordeaux.

This beautiful book presents fifty-one key works from Goya’s late period along with two essays that illuminate his works of that time. Jonathan Brown retells the story of Goya’s difficult years in exile when he nevertheless continued to make art, experimenting with the new medium of lithography, inventing a technique of miniature painting on ivory, and painting remarkable portraits of friends and supporters. Susan Grace Galassi describes the rich historical and cultural milieu of Bordeaux and establishes a biographical context and sense of place that underscore the triumph of Goya’s final achievement.

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) spent the last four years of his life living in Bordeaux with other political émigrés from Spain and South America. In those years he created small-scale, intimate pieces, including uncommissioned portraits of friends and family, miniature paintings on ivory plaques, and numerous drawings and lithographs. These works attest to the artist’s continuing vitality in his old age and also offer insight into his life in Bordeaux.

This beautiful book presents fifty-one key works from Goya’s late period along with two essays that illuminate his works of that time. Jonathan Brown retells the story of Goya’s difficult years in exile when he nevertheless continued to make art, experimenting with the new medium of lithography, inventing a technique of miniature painting on ivory, and painting remarkable portraits of friends and supporters. Susan Grace Galassi describes the rich historical and cultural milieu of Bordeaux and establishes a biographical context and sense of place that underscore the triumph of Goya’s final achievement.

Library Journal

The ten-page bibliography included here lists numerous works already written about the great Spanish court painter Francisco Jos de Goya y Lucientes. But Brown (fine arts, Inst. of Fine Arts, NYU; Velazquez: Painter and Courtier) and Galassi (curator, Frick Collection, New York; Picasso's Variations on the Masters) have produced a remarkably rich study by focusing solely on the period from Goya's exile to Bordeaux in 1824 to his death in 1828 at age 82. They demonstrate how his painterly style changed over time and discuss an unusual genre he innovated that was inspired by smears of water drops. The 51 objects featured include experimental lithographs and black crayon drawings, some depicting local life in Bordeaux, others reflecting back on Goya's Spanish experiences, and still others acting as bizarre or enigmatic expressions of the artist's imagination. A chronology is helpful to understanding how Goya's life was caught up in tumultuous Spanish and French politics. Accompanying an exhibition on view at the Frick Collection through May 14, this book is recommended for art museum, academic, and larger public libraries.-Anne Marie Lane, American Heritage Ctr. Rare Books Lib., Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Jonathan Brown is Carroll and Milton Petrie Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and the author of many books, including Velázquez: Painter and Courtier, The Golden Age of Painting in Spain and the Yale Pelican History of Art volume Painting in Spain, 1500–1700, all published by Yale University Press. Susan Grace Galassi is curator at the Frick Collection, New York, and is the author of Picasso’s Variations on the Masters and co-author of Whistler, Women, and Fashion, published by Yale University Press.