Going for Goya

 On Friday I attend Goya:The Portraits at the National Gallery.  The latest in a the line of heavy hitting exhibitions at the National Gallery it is, in my view well worth attending.

There is a strong historical as well as artistic interest to this particular exhibition as it moves from the 1780s and the reign of Charles III of Spain (who if the portrait Goya has done of him, and hangs in the first room is to be believed, had a striking likeness to the BFG) through to after the end of the Napolenic wars.  Epic figures of the time such as Wellington (left, second from top) are encountered.  All rendered with a brutal honesty.

The fashions change too, from colourful bright clothing to somber black coats.  Of course this may reflect the painter's deeper melancholy which is reflected in his later self portrait (bottom left).

It is well worth going.  Luminos paintings are these and the dull tepid postcards that can be purchased afterwards are a disappointing reminder.

The peices are full of personality.  One of the works that strikes you when you arrive is the one left and 2nd from bottom. What this version does not show you is the fixed stare that main subject holds you with, or that on the wall behind him is a picture of the king (the BFG again).

There is much humour in the early works.  Odd dogs peer out from behind people.  As in the peice top left enraged cats stare at a magpie on a string.  Strange injured figures leer out at you from the sides of group pictures and children gawp at jaunty angles.  It looks like a well taken photo in that there is the appearance of people suddenly frozen.

I enjoyed it very much.  I have said this before but great art conjours in me a profound sense of calm.  Possibly it is also the setting (the shrowded darkness of the National Gallery's basement exhibition space enhances this I am sure) but it was a most meditative experience.  I spent much longer in there than I realised. 

There is much iconic here to be seen.  Much that can be learnt if you paint.  Afterwards I found myself comparing it to other portrait exhibitions I have seen. Seargent or Goya? 

It is of course a silly question.  Both if preferable.  Both give different things.  The interesting thing though about the Goya exhibition was it seemed to show, by the end, a man broken by life, ground down by war and dissapointment.

Go. You'll like it.