The Bordeaux Bulls

#

rancisco de Goya and Lucientes (b. Fuentetodos, Saragossa, 1746, d. Bordeaux, 1828) was not only one of the greatest painters of all time, but also one of the best Spanish engravers, second only to Ribera. Goya was a prolific and expert craftsman, prepared to use a wide variety of techniques - etching, aquatint, drypoint, burin, lithography; his production was unparalleled. His prints are totally distinct from his other commissions and the official pictures he produced as court painter. His engravings and his large number of drawings reveal a Goya who is freer, more private, and more contradictory.

Goyas early prints were on religious themes, but he went on to cover other subjects, beginning with copies of the Velazquez paintings in the royal collections.

The magnificent 1825 lithographs here entitled "The Bordeaux Bulls", came at the end of many years devoted to the graphic arts. Goya produced these four lithographs of bulls at the end of his life, when he was already 79 years old and living in Bordeaux, far away from his own country. They are in fact a nostalgic reminiscence, an echo of scenes witnessed in Spain.

• Portfolio: 740 x 525 mm.
• Pages: 695 x 495 mm.

#