Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes’ paintings are well know. Now’s your chance to to familiarise yourself with his etchings at Paris’ wonderful Petit Palais…



Goya has strong links with France. During a long convalescence he studied the French Revolution. He also lived the last few years of his life here, finally settling in Bordeaux, where he died in 1828 aged 82.

Although he is better know for his paintings, later in life he turned his hand to aquatint prints, a variant on etching. His paintings had become nightmarish surreal landscapes, he went deaf, became introspective and cynical, and the aquatints reflected this dark state of mind, often with critiques of Spanish society or the folly of war.

The exhibition at the Petit Palais will show works from his “Los Caprichos” and “Los Prorerbios” series, prime examples of his skill as a caricaturist and social commentator, as well as other pieces from the museum’s archives and lent by the Prado in Madrid.

By the way, for those that missed it, Goya was the subject of a film by Milos Forman last year. Here’s the trailer: