Ranging from modest origins in rural Spain, Francisco Goya (1746-1828) rose to develop into one of the vital celebrated artists in Europe and prime courtroom painter to the Spanish Crown. As we speak, nonetheless, Goya is much less identified for his completed profession in Catholic Church commissions and royal portraiture than his dramatic late-in-life flip in direction of the darkish and macabre, together with a collection of works often known as the ‘Black Work’ that had been by no means supposed for public show. On this instalment of his YouTube collection Nice Artwork Defined, the UK curator, gallerist and video essayist James Payne particulars how a mix of geopolitical and private struggles led Goya to the grim outlook that birthed these intense and sometimes disturbing pictures, in addition to the indelible affect they’ve had on artwork within the centuries since his dying.
