Following the first cabinet exhibition on Francisco de Goya’s graphic work (30/10/2025–01/02/2026), Focus on Graphic Art: Francisco de Goya – Etchings #2 is dedicated to the Spanish artist’s important series of 80 etchings “Los Caprichos,” which remains to this day one of his best-known works.
In his aquatint etchings, Francisco de Goya (1746 Fuendetodos, Zaragoza province – 1828 Bordeaux) presents a critical commentary of the social and political ills of Spain and shines a spotlight on society. The 50-year-old artist addresses problems during his time such as poverty, sexuality, prostitution, superstition, and the outdated class consciousness of the nobility. Goya depicted the social upheavals in Europe following the French Revolution as a conflict between reason and emotion, traditional norms and individual needs. The works, the visual depictions and their titles, are difficult to interpret to this day, as they are deeply ambivalent. Goya drew on many visual sources, such as emblem books with cryptic text–image combinations, and on popular woodcut illustrations. He was inspired by intellectuals, writers, artists, and liberal politicians whom he was friends with. These included Ceán Bermudez (1749–1829), Don Bernardo de Iriarte (1735–1814), Leandro Fernández de Moratin (1760–1828), and Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos (1744–1811), all of whom appeared in Goya’s portraits.
For “Los Caprichos”, Goya used the newly developed aquatint process, which had been popularized in 1768 by the French artist Jean Baptist Le Prince (1734–1781). This etching technique makes it possible to fashion surfaces rather than forming elements with lines, hatching, or dots, as is typical in etching or copperplate engraving. To the eye, aquatint appears more like a washed drawing in ink or sepia. Goya combined the technique of etching with aquatint and partially retouched his compositions with the etching needle.
Goya presented himself as an independent artist. Without a commission and without financial support, he released the first edition of “Los Caprichos” in 1799 and offered it for sale. Initially, only 27 of the 270 copies from the only edition at the time found buyers. He donated the remaining copies and the printing plates in 1803 to King Charles IV of Spain, who in return granted Goya's son Javier (1784–1854) a lifetime annuity. The explosive nature of the works and the fear of reprisals from the Inquisition were probably what motivated him to withdraw the works from public view. Between 1855 and 1937, eleven further editions were printed in the Calcografía Nacional in Madrid.
On display is an outstanding early first edition from the collection of the Viennese art collector Julius Hofmann (1840–1913), which the MdbK was able to acquire in 1925.
Focus on Graphic Art: Francisco de Goya – Etchings #2 is the fifth edition of the ongoing exhibition series Focus on Graphic Art, which began in 2024. The MdbK’s Graphic Collection regularly presents a selection of its own works around a theme in the collection room on the first floor of the museum.
