I was reading on Francisco de Goya last night - he was born in the 1700's, was a Spanish painter and basically lived a life of tragedy. He suffered the deaths of several of his children, a complete loss of hearing in mid life and a downward spiral into mental illness in his older age. He lived alone in a house on a hill and eventually began to paint directly onto the plaster walls. He died in the 1820's and some fifty years later, his paintings were transferred from the walls of his house to canvas. Many of his paintings done during this black period, some would say, clearly depict his descent into madness.
I wonder about his family, and whether or not he had any friends...
Goya's an interesting artist, his early work like "The Maja" is quite tame (for a nude) compared to "Saturn Devouring His Son", which is one of his works from the walls of his house, which kind of freaks me out each time i look at it!
ReplyDeleteIt's an amazing piece, so powerful...