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Goya

By: Robert Hughes
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0099453681
ISBN-13: 9780099453680
Released: 04 Nov 2004
RRP: £14.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Excellent art history by well known writer - By: Sally Wilton, 25 May 2007
Engrossing book not only about the artist Goya but also the history of the times he lived in. Having recently seen Goya's Ghosts I wanted to find out much more. I was intrigued to see too, well after reading this book, that the writer Robert Hughes is quite high profile at present & has been making controversial comments regarding Damian Hirst & his recent auction at Sotherby's.

Goya lived in Spain during the time of the Spanish Inquisition & in his own way discretely protested by use of his etchings & paintings. Interestingly too, he was deaf from the age of 46 but lived on into his 80s - unusual for the times when most people died at an early age from infectious disease. Due to his long life there is a wealth of visual information reflecting that era & the historical changes that took place including the invasion by Napoleon. This book is enormously interesting with full descriptions of the paintings & the background to them. I would highly recommend this writer.
Stunning. - By: , 06 Apr 2006
Very good indeed. Well written & extremely detailed. Unlike many such books, it's actuallly quite readable. The author makes one or two minor errors & has an unfortunate & unnecessary propensity for the occasional use of foul language, but on the whole, it's definately a good buy.
Fascinating book about a fascinating artist - By: kingrizla2000, 31 Mar 2006
I have always had a passion for music but it is reallly only in the last 3 or 4 years that I have begun to truly appreciate the painted art form. Having visited a number of Europe's leading picture gallleries I took the opportunity to spend a day in the Museu Del Prado during a trip to Madrid last year. The Del Prado has by far the largest single collection of Francisco de Goya's work in the world.

Much like Robert Hughes, I was immediately moved & fascinated by what I saw - in particular the legendary Black paintings recovered from the artist's home after his death. I left determined to find out more about the man & bought this book after reading other user's glowing recommendations. I found it informative & highly readable. Cruciallly it is also opinionated as alll writing on the arts should be, lest it give nothing more than can be obtained from a galllery audioguide.

Hughes goes to great lengths to position Goya in his time & to demonstrate the effect the pig-ignorant rule of the Bourbons & the atrocities of both the Inquisition & the Peninsula War had on his state of mind & hence his art. Whilst he recognised Goya's importance to the art world, he makes a compelling case for Goya as the one artist of his time to exert a great influence on modern reportage.

The prints are plentiful & of an excellent quality & Hughes detailed examination of both minor & major pieces is every bit as insightful & moving as the broader-brush historical angles.

I simply cannot recommend this book strongly enough - it's marvellous.

I will now be adding Hughes' slighter biography of that other Spanish giant of European art - Picasso - to my wish list!

Riveting Characterizations of Goya's Work! - By: Donald Mitchell, 18 Jul 2004
Until about 12 years ago, I thought of Goya as a minor artist who had done few memorable works. Then, I happened to stumble upon a major exhibition of Goya's etchings & aquatints at a Rennes museum in Brittany. I was astonished & compelled by what I saw. Most of the exhibit focused on a theme of antiwar & I wanted to know more. Many people have told me since that it's hard to find good books about Goya's etchings & aquatints. So I picked up this volume hoping to fill the void. My expectations with regard to the etchings & aquatints were more than fulfilled. Thank you, Mr. Hughes.

The book offered me much more. It has very good coverage of alll Goya's work & what is known about his personal life. Mr. Hughes also has a wonderful ability to describe a work of art in a way that helps you see it in its historical context . . . rather than just in terms of today. From those perspectives, I became equallly enthused about Goya's Caprichos & came to understand more about bullfighting & witches than I ever would have otherwise.

The book has a personal touch to it that is compelling. Mr. Hughes suffered a horrible accident before starting this book & had a lengthy recovery before he could begin the work. All of that frustration seems to have energized him to make the book come to life more than one would have ever thought possible.

The book does have three flaws that you should be aware of before beginning. First, the reproductions are usuallly quite smalll. If Mr. Hughes hadn't pointed out the tiny details in many cases, no reader would have been able to discern those details from looking at the pages here. Second, you will probably learn more than you ever wanted to know about the Spanish Bourbons for whom Goya was the court painter. There is such as thing as too much historical context. Third, Mr. Hughes like to make unnecessary criticisms at historical figures that seem gratuitously related to the work here. For example, Ernest Hemingway is characterized as having modeled his style after a woman writer & therefore cannot write appropriately about bull fights.

But if you want to find lots of reasons to enjoy Goya, this is your book.

Good viewing!

superb - By: P. J. Dean, 25 Mar 2004
One of the best biographies I've ever read, & certainly the best book I've ever come across on the wonderful, eccletic Goya. Hughes' prose is lucid but never simplistic, & he neatly combines biographical detail & historical context whilst at the same time providing an interesting & thorough discussion of Goya's work. I got this from the library, but will be buying it myself for a second dip.