Desastres de la Guerra: I Saw It (Yo Lo Vi)
1863
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)
Not on View

"Disasters of War" is a commentary on the brutality and senselessness of war. Begun during the Napoleonic invasion and occupation of Spain (1808-1814), and published posthumously in 1863, this series of prints raises the visual horrors of war to a new level. Goya's imagery is visually more modern than the earlier depictions of violence found in the prints of Dutch and French artists. Here graphic scenes of torture, rape, mutilation, and execution confront the viewer with the physicality and psychology of human suffering. Goya is perhaps the first Western artist to capture the terrorism of war in the modern age.

Details

  • Artist Name: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 1746-1828)
  • Title: Desastres de la Guerra: I Saw It (Yo Lo Vi)
  • Date: 1863
  • Medium: Etching, burnished aquatint, lavis, drypoint, burin, and burnisher on wove paper
  • Edition: 1st edition b
  • Dimensions: sheet: 9 1/2 x 12 3/4 in. (24.13 x 32.38 cm); plate: 6 5/16 x 9 1/4 in. (16.03 x 23.49 cm)
  • Credit Line: The Norton Simon Foundation
  • Accession Number: F.1968.03.44.G
  • Copyright: © The Norton Simon Foundation

Object Information

(Sale, London, Christie’s, 28 November 1967, lot 201, bought in and sold 5 December 1967, to);
The Norton Simon Foundation.

Telling Tales

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2006-01-20 to 2006-04-17

To Do Battle: Conflict, Struggle, and Symbol in Art

  • Norton Simon Museum, 2002-03-08 to 2002-07-08
  • Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 400 p. 293
  • Juliet Wilson-Bareau, Goya in the Norton Simon Museum, 2016, cat. 64 pp. 134 (ill.), 223, 268

Additional Artwork by Artist

Copies after Velázquez: Isabel de Borbón Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 1778-79
Copies after Velázquez: Un infante de España (Infante Don Fernando) Francisco de Goya y Lucientes c. 1778-79
Desastres de la Guerra Francisco de Goya y Lucientes c. 1810-15

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