Zurbarán

Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664) was, after Velázquez, the greatest painter of the Golden Age in Spain. He may also be considered the most representative artist of the period, since he did not, like Velázquez, work at the court in Madrid, but for ecclesiastical—primarily monastic—patrons in southern Spain. Born in the small farming town of Fuente de Cantos in Extremadura, Zurbarán established a workshop in Llerena, some sixty miles to the north. Several pictures he painted for Sevillian monasteries brought him early recognition and an unprecedented invitation from the city government to live in Seville, which "would be honored ... and favor him ... since the art of painting is one of the major embellishments of the state." Zurbarán's clientele, though restricted, was nevertheless representative of seventeenth-century Spain; his approach to spiritual subjects reflects the authority of tradition, the demands of doctrine, and the requirements of patrons and of a public for whom the story, not the style, was the essence of a work of art. The synthesis of tradition and innovation in Zurbarán's art, of forms that are at once timeless and tangible, perfectly expresses the spirit of Counter-Reformation theology and of contemporary Spanish society, with its faith in both mystical and earthly reality. Seventy-one paintings constitute the monographic exhibition—the first ever to be held in the United States—organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux de France, for which this volume serves as the catalogue. Zurbarán's work for monasteries is especially well represented in the exhibition, which includes many works that are rarely seen, as well as those that have made Zurbarán's name preeminent among painters. The magnificent Christ on the Cross, from The Art Institute of Chicago; Saint Serapion, from the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford; Saint Peter Nolasco's Vision of the Crucified Saint Peter, from the Museo del Prado, Madrid; the Virgin and Christ in the House of Nazareth, from The Cleveland Museum of Art; and Saint Francis in Meditation, from London's National Gallery, are only some of the masterpieces that have been brought together for this event. The monumental altarpiece of Jerez de la Frontera, which was completely dismantled around 1835, is reconstructed with four imposing pictures lent by museums in France, Spain, and the United States. By 1700, Zurbarán's work was already unfamiliar to collectors and the general public because most of it was isolated in churches and monasteries. These sites were looted by Napoleon's generals in the Peninsular Wars of 1808–14, which, with the secularization of ecclesiastical property in 1835, made Zurbarán's paintings better known, but robbed them of their original context and much of their meaning. We see them here, gathered from collections in Europe, Latin America, the United States, and the Soviet Union, in a selection made by the eminent authority on Zurbarán, Jeannine Baticle, Conservateur en Chef Honoraire at the Musée du Louvre, Paris. Essays by distinguished scholars provide background information and historical perspective on the artist. Jonathan Brown, Professor at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, writes about Zurbarán's ecclesiastical patrons and the specific commissions that determined the artist's subjects and the religious imagery in his work. Yves Bottineau, Inspecteur Général des Musées Chargé du Musée National des Chateaux de Versailles et de Trianon, discusses the critical reception of the artist from the early nineteenth through the twentieth century. Alfonso E. Perez Sanchez, Director of the Museo del Prado, Madrid, surveys the artists who contributed to the artiistic climate in Seville prior to Zurbarán's emergence as a major figure on the scene. Finally, Jeannine Baticle presents a chronological review of Zurbarán's life based on surviving documents. [This book was originally published in 1988 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]

Zurbaran

Arts & Photography

Baticle, Jeannine

Individual Artists

Metropolitan Museum of Art

A study of the work of Goya. From genre scenes of gaiety and courtship and incisive portraits of public figures, to vivid depictions of the disasters of war, his art offers a huge variety of forms, as well as a record of Spain in peace, decline and war.

Goya : Painter of Terror and Splendour (NEW HORIZONS)

Gardners Books

Briefly recounts the life of the seventeenth century Spanish artist

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Harry N Abrams / Metropolitan Museum of Art

A study of the life and work of Francisco Goya discusses the artistic development of the great Spanish painter, the rich versatility of his work, and the impact of the events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries on his art. Original.

Goya (Abrams Discoveries)

Harry N. Abrams

Distributed by Abrams

Goya d'or et de sang

Reference

Gallimard]

L'amour de la vie chez Goya irriguait constamment son inspiration et le rendait plus sensible que d'autres artistes, alors ligotés par le néo-classicisme, aux différents aspects de la Nature: il l'aimait profondément et en a dépeint les multiples nuances avec un sens de l'observation aussi aigu que celui du Zadig de Voltaire et une facture magique digne de Velázquez, atteignant ainsi un degré de science incomparable qui ferait croire qu'en regardant ses tableaux on peut toucher la réalité quel qu'en soit l'objet.Humaniste comme Cervantès, il n'a cessé de s'interroger, la plume, la pointe à graver ou le pinceau à la main, sur les mécanismes secrets qui font mouvoir cette étrange et passionnante machine: l'homme. Il ne supporte pas que cet homme, qui possède le privilège du choix entre le bien et le mal, se conduise comme une bête sauvage ou cède aux terreurs maléfiques ancestrales. Il est aussi le témoin le plus sincère des événements funestes ou heureux de son époque, en quelque sorte le premier reporter des Temps modernes. C'est pourquoi il importe de le replacer dans le contexte politique où il a vécu et de bien connaître la situation des princes, des grands seigneurs, des protecteurs dont il dépendait; il ne se contente pas de les peindre: il les juge avec une perspicacité diabolique. Or c'est en vérifiant l'exactitude de ces verdicts dans les archives publiques et privées, les Mémoires, les correspondances et les témoignages contemporains qu'on parvient à reconstituer sa flamboyante personnalité.Jeannine Baticle, conservateur général honoraire au musée du Louvre, a consacré sa carrière au département des Peintures où elle est entrée en 1945 après avoir fait l'Ecole du Louvre. Passionnée de culture espagnole, elle a acquis au cours des années une connaissance approfondie des moeurs et de l'art de ce pays. Devenue l'une des meilleures spécialistes actuelles de la peinture espagnole, elle a publié de nombreux travaux. Parmi les expositions qu'elle a organisées, il faut citer la grande rétrospective Zurbarán (New York, 1987, Paris, 1988).

Goya (Beaux-arts) (French Edition)

FAYARD

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