author
Francisco Goya
1746–1828
A brilliant and unsettling artist of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Spain, he moved from lively court commissions to stark images of war, fear, and human folly. His work still feels startlingly modern because it watches the world so closely and so unsparingly.
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About the author
Born in Fuendetodos, Spain, in 1746, Francisco Goya became one of the most important painters and printmakers of his era. He worked for the Spanish court and created royal portraits, tapestry designs, and religious paintings, building a career that brought him both prestige and visibility.
What makes him especially compelling is the range of his art. Alongside elegant portraits and scenes of everyday life, he produced prints and paintings that turned toward satire, violence, and nightmare. Series such as Los Caprichos and The Disasters of War, as well as later works often grouped as the Black Paintings, show a darker, more searching side that helped make him a bridge between the old masters and modern art.
Late in life, Goya left Spain and died in Bordeaux, France, in 1828. Today he is remembered not just as a great Spanish artist, but as a fearless observer of power, conflict, and the human mind.