The Disasters of War by Francisco de Goya

Fundación MAPFRE presents for the first time its collection of Los Desastres de la Guerra by Francisco de Goya at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico.

Goya, along with Greco, Velázquez and Picasso, is one of the biggest names in Spanish painting. Man of his time, yet his work exceeds your time and opens new horizons that make us understand not only the history of modern art, also contemporary, both in Spain and universally.

The violence that Francisco de Goya witnessed during the War of Independence (1808 - 1814) prompted the artist to resume drawings, sketches and prints, an activity that had something abandoned since 1799 undertake Los Caprichos. This type of work, private, is an effective method by which to express the pain and anguish felt before the war events and their consequences on civilians. The exact chronological limits in the execution of the series is unknown, but is often dated from 1810, date on three of the prints and 1815.

The exhibition consists of 80 sheets titled and numbered etched with some input from dry and wash tip, printed in black ink. In 1870, Lafort acquired two more prints, which completes the series with 82 etchings; however, they were never included in the seven editions preserved. The fourth edition, which is part of the MAPFRE Foundation Collections, was conducted in 1906 in the National Engraving. The print run was limited to 275 copies in cream Laid quality paper and black ink very dark hue.

The Disasters of War is the first example in the history of painting where events such as war and its consequences are reflected not as heroic deeds, but as the disaster and barbarity they are: fear, terror, hunger and poverty… Goya war is almost as if it were a chronic and facts are such harshness that while denouncing seem exclaim a loud cry for peace.

The exhibition will be complemented by various educational activity, including a series on Spanish war cinema in collaboration with the Consulate General of Spain in Puerto Rico, a discussion on peace as well as conferences and workshops.