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Francisco Goya
41 quotes
“I tell you that I have nothing more to wish for. They were extremely pleased with my pictures, and expressed great satisfaction not only the King, but the Prince as well. Neither I nor my works deserve such recognition.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martín Zapater, early Jan. 1779 and [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Francisco_de_Goya_-_Portrait_of_Mart%C3%ADn_Zapater_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg; as quoted in Francisco Goya, Hugh Stokes,…
“But now? well now, now I have no fear of Witches, goblins, ghosts, thugs, Giants, ghouls, scallywags, etc, nor any sort of body.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1784 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martín Zapater and [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Francisco_de_Goya_-_Portrait_of_Mart%C3%ADn_Zapater_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, Feb. 1784; as quoted in Goya, A life in Letters, edited an…
“As I am working for the public, I must continue to amuse them.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1784 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martín Zapater, c. 1784; taken from Francisco Zapater y Gomez : Goya; Noticias biograficas, Zaragoza, 1868, La Perseverencia, p. 58
“I have had luck with my St. Bernardino, not only with the experts, but with the public as well. Without any reservation, everyone is on my side. The King expressed his satisfaction before the whole Court.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1784 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martín Zapater, c. 10 December 1784; as quoted in Francisco Goya, Hugh Stokes, Herbert Jenkins Limited Publishers, London, 1914, p. 134-135
“Beloved soulmate.. ..you'll kiss my ass at least seven times if I manage to convince you from the crazy happiness I got from living here [Madrid].. ..the various insects with their deadly weapons, made of needles and penknives, which, if you don't look out and even if you do, will tear away your flesh and your hair as well.. ..and you can't find a spot far enough away from them to escape their cruelty. This infection is general in every town..”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1774 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martin Zapater, Madrid, 25 Feb. 1785; from: 'Francisco de Goya. MS Letters to Martín Zapater 1774-99', Collection of Prado - published as Cartas a Martín Zapater; ed, X. de Salas & M. Agueda, Ma…
“I am now Painter to the King with fifteen thousand reales [a year].. ..the King sent out an order to Bayeu and Maella to search out the best two painters that could be found, to paint the cartoons for tapestries. Bayeu proposed his brother, and Maella proposed me. Their advice was put before the king, and the favor was done, and I had no idea of what was happening to me.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1786 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martín Zapater , June 1786; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 81
“I have now established an enviable way of living, and if anyone wants anything from me they must come to me.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1786 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martín Zapater, signed and dated Madrid, 1 August 1786, location: Pierpont Morgan Library Dept. of Literary and Historical Manuscripts
“I haven't heard them [n.d.r. he's talking about some Spanish popular folk songs] and probably never shall because I no longer go to the places where one could hear them, for I have got into my head that I should maintain a certain presence and air for dignity.. ..that a man should have, and you can imagine that I'm not very happy about it.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1787 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter 206, c. 1787; in Goya, A life in Letters, edited and introduced by Sarah Simmons; transl. Philip Troutman, London, Pimlico, 2004
“I had established an enviable scheme of life. I refused to dance attendance in the ante-chambers of the great. If anyone wanted something from me he had to ask. I was much run after, but if the person was not of rank, or a friend, I worked [painted] for nobody.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1789 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Don Martín Zapater, c. 1789; from: Francisco Zapater y Gomez : Goya; Noticias biograficas, Zaragoza, 1868, La Perse Verencia; as quoted in Francisco Goya, Hugh Stokes, Herbert Jenkins Limited Publis…
“My position is entirely different from what the majority of the public imagine.. .I want a great deal, firstly because my position entails expenditure, and secondly because I like it. Being a very well-known man I cannot reduce my expenses as other people do. I was about to ask for an increase of salary, but the conditions are so unfavorable that I must set the idea aside.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1790 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Martín Zapater, and [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Francisco_de_Goya_-_Portrait_of_Mart%C3%ADn_Zapater_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, February, 1790, from Francisco Zapater y Gomez: Goya; Noticia…
“[that] the highly praised handsomeness of my little son had disappeared and in its place was a monstrosity completely covered with pox blisters. Can you imagine how I felt?”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1790 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Martín Zapater and [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Francisco_de_Goya_-_Portrait_of_Mart%C3%ADn_Zapater_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, n.p. Madrid, 10 November 1790, at Christies website
“[T]here are no rules in painting and.. ..the oppression, or servile obligation, of making all study or follow the same path is a great impediment for the Young who profess this very difficult art that approaches the divine more than any other.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a report, 1792 which Goya was invited to write to the Academy of San Fernando on the subject of teaching art; as cited by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 126
“What a scandal to hear nature deprecated in comparison to Greek statues by one who knows neither one nor the other without acknowledging that the smallest part of Nature confounds and amazes those who know most. What statue or cast of it might there be that is not copied from divine nature?”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1792 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In a report in 1792 - Goya wrote to the Academy of San Fernando, on 'teaching art'; as quoted in Francisco Goya y Licientis, Janis Tomlinson, Phaodon 1999, p. 70
“My dear soul, I can stand on my own feet, but so poorly that I don't know if my head is on my shoulders. I have no appetite or desire to do anything at all. Only your letters cheer me up – only yours. I don't know what will become of me now that I have lost sight of you; I who idolize you have given up hope that you'll ever glance at these blurred lines and get consolation from them.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1774 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Martín Zapaterand [https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Francisco_de_Goya_-_Portrait_of_Mart%C3%ADn_Zapater_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, March 1793; from: 'Francisco de Goya. MS Letters to Martín Zapa…
“To occupy my imagination, which has been depressed by dwelling on my misfortunes, and to compensate at least in part for some of the considerable expenses I have incurred, I set myself to painting a series of cabinet pictures.. ..they depict themes that cannot usually be dealt with in commissioned works, where 'capricho' [whim] and invention do not have much of a role to play. I thought of sending them to the academy..”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1794 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Bernardo de Iriarte, deputy of the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid, Jan. 1794; as quoted in 'Goya and Iriarte', in Goya his Life and Work, P. Gassier and J. Wilson, 1971, p. 382
“[the painting 'Yard with Lunatics' shows] ..a yard with lunatics, and two of them fighting completely naked while their warder beats them, and others in sacks; (it is a scene I witnessed at first hand in Zaragoza).”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1794 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Bernardo de Iriarte, 7 Jan, 1794; as quoted by Jane Kromm, in The art of frenzy, 2002, p. 194
“My health has not improved. Often I get so excited that I cannot bear with myself. Then again I become calm, as I am at this present moment of writing, although I am already fatigued. Next Monday, if God permit, I will go to a bull-fight, and I wish you were able to accompany me.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1794 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to his friend Zapater, April 23, 1794; in Goya; Noticias biograficas, Francisco Zapater y Gomez, Zaragoza, 1868; first published in 'La Perseverencia', p. 53; as quoted in Francisco Goya, Hugh Stokes, Herbert Jen…
“The group of sorcerers who form the support for our elegant lady are more for ornament than real use. Some heads are so charged with inflammable gas that they have no need for balloons or sorcerers in order to fly away.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1795 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: a note on an etching-plate, 1795/96; as quoted in Francisco Goya, Hugh Stokes, Herbert Jenkins Limited Publishers, London, 1914, p. 195
“The sleep of reason produces monsters.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“El sueño de la razón produce monstruos.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1796 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Caption, plate 43 of Los Caprichos etching and aquatint, 1796-97; Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid; Robert Hughes: in Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 73
Also quoted by: Francisco de Goya (es)
“Imagination without reason produces impossible monsters; with reason, it becomes the mother of the arts, and the source of its marvels.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: quoted by Albert Frederick Calvert, in Goya; an account of his life and works; publisher London J. Lane, 1908; as quoted in Francisco Goya, Hugh Stokes, Herbert Jenkins Limited Publishers, London, 1914, pp. 355-377
“No recognition / Nadie se conoce' [Goya wrote on this plate no. 6:] The world is a masquerade, faces, costumes, voices, everything a lie. Each person wishes to appear what he is not. The whole world deceives itself, and no one recognizes himself.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in Francisco Goya, Hugh Stokes, Herbert Jenkins Limited Publishers, London, 1914, pp. 355-377
“A bride-to-be, Discreet and penitent, she presents herself to her parents in this guise.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1796 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Caption, in the so-called Madrid Album 90: sketch-book of Goya, 1796-97; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 173-74
“'One to the other / Unos á otros' - Thus goes the world. We mock at and deceive each other. He who, yesterday, was the ball, is to-day the horseman in the ring. Fortune directs the feast, and distributes the parts according to the inconstancy of its caprice.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: title of Capricho no. 77 and Goya's inscription on this plate; from Paul Lefort, in Francisco Goya: etude biographique et critique, suivi de l'essai d'un catalogue raisonne de son oeuvre grave et lithographe; published …
“The author [Goya] is convinced that it is as proper for painting to criticize human error and vice as for poetry and prose to do so, although criticism is usually taken to be exclusively the business of literature.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He [Goya] has selected from amongst the innumerable foibles and follies to be found in any civilized society, and from the common prejudices and deceitful practices which custom, ignorance or self-interest have made usual..”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since most of the subjects depicted in this work are not real, it is not unreasonable to hope that connoisseurs will readily overlook their defects.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The author had not followed the precedents of any other artist, nor has he been able to copy Nature itself.. ..He who departs from Nature will surely merits high esteem, since he has to put before thee yes of the public forms and poses which have existed previously in the darkness and confusion of an irrational mind..”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Painting (like poetry) chooses from universals what is most apposite. It brings together in a single imaginery being circumstances and characteristics which occur in nature in many different persons.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1799 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: the announcement in the paper of 6. Feb. 1799 was necessary because Goya was unable to find regular bookshops to sell the Capricho-prints. That year 300 sets were printed, which meant 24.000 prints!! - without the mis-p…
“..[to capture] the magic of the ambiance. - [in the fresco which Goya made c. 1798 of Saint Anthony of Padua ]”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: biographical notice, quoted by Goya's son Javier Goya, cited by Valentín de Carderera; cited in Goya: The frescoes in San Antonia de la Florida, by Lafuente de Ferrari. Skira, 1955, p. 144, n. 24.
“Always lines, never forms. Where do they find these lines in Nature? Personally I see only forms that are lit up and forms that are not, planes that advance and planes that recede, relief and depth. My eye never sees outlines or particular features or details... ...My brush should not see better than I do. [Goya, in a recall of an overheard conversation]”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1808 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: conversation of c. 1808, in the earliest biography of Goya: Goya, by Laurent Matheron, Schulz et Thuillié, Paris 1858; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 176
“His Excellency Don José Palafox [famous Spanish general, who recaptured Zaragoza from the French army) called me to go to Zaragoza this week in order to see and examine the ruins of that city, with the intention that I should paint the glories of its inhabitants, something from which I cannot be excused because the glory of my native land [Goya was born in Zaragoza] interests me so much.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1809 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter c. 1809, to the Secretary of the Academy of San Fernando in Madrid; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003; p. 282 & note 13
“'Fatal consequences of the bloody war against Bonaparte in Spain. And other emphatic caprices'”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“'Fatales consequensias de la sangrienta guerra en Espanã con Buonaparte. Y otros caprichos enfáticos'”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1808 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: title of Goya's undated 80 etchings, 1808 - 1814; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 272
“Goya in gratitude to his friend Arrieta for the skill and great care with which he saved his [Goya's] life in his acute and dangerous illness, suffered at the end of 1819, at the age of seventy-tree years. He painted this in 1820.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1820 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: inscription by Goya, 1820
“I sent you a lithographic proof that shows a fight of young bulls.. ..and if you found it worthy of distribution, I could send whatever you wish.. .I once again ask your advice, for I have three others made, of the same size and bullfight subjects.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1825 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to Joaquín Ferrer, Bordeaux, End of 1825; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 390 & note 8
“..As a matter of fact, last winter I was painting on ivory; I've already got a collection of forty studies, but these are original miniatures, of a kind I've never seen before, entirely done with the point of a brush, with details that are closer to the brushwork of Velásquez than to that of Mengs.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“letter to Joaquín Ferrer, 20 December 1825; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 393”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) said by 1828 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everything you tell me in your last letter, which is to say that to spend more time with me they will give up going to Paris, fills me with the greatest pleasure.. .I find myself much better, and I hope to be back where I was before.. .I am happy to be better to receive my most beloved travelers. This improvement I owe to Molina.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1827 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to Javier (his only son), from Madrid, Summer of 1827; as quoted by Robert Hughes, in: Goya. Borzoi Book - Alfred Knopf, New York, 2003, p. 401 – note 15
“I can hardly describe the discord produced by the comparison of the retouched part of the painting and the part left untouched, the former having lost entirely the immediacy and brio of the brushwork and the latter the mastery of sensitive and discerning touches.. .For it is true that the more one retouches under the pretext of restoration, the more harm one does, and even the artists themselves, were they able to return, would not able to retouch their painting perfectly on account of the necessary change in the hue of pigments over time... No painting by Titian should be relined, nor any paintings by a number of other painters.. ..and, even when it is possible, the operation is more likely to result in deterioration than in improvement of the painting.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1801 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: from his Letters 263-264. circa 1801; in Goya, A life in Letters, edited and introduced by Sarah Simmons; translations by Philip Troutman, London, Pimlico, 2004
“Your Excellency, I am in receipt of His Majesty's royal order, which your excellency communicated to me on the 6th inst., accepting the offer of my work, the 'Caprichos' on eighty copper plate engraved with aqua-fortis by my hand, which I will hand to the Royal Calografia with the lot of prints which I had printed by way of precaution, amounting to two hundred and forty copies of eighty prints, in order not to defraud His Majesty in the least, and for my own satisfaction as to my mode of procedure. I am very grateful for the pension of twelve thousand reals which His Majesty has been pleased to grant to my son [Xavier Goya], for which I offer my best thanks to His Majesty, and to your excellency.. ..I only desire your excellency's orders, and that you may keep well. May God preserve your excellency's valuable life for many years.. .Your excellency's obedient and grateful servant, Franco de Goya.”
Francisco Goya (1746–1828) first seen 1803 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: letter to the Minister, Don Miguel Cayetano Soler, Madrid, October 9, 1803; as quoted in the 'Gazette des Beaux-Arts', 1860, p. 241, and reproduced in facsimile in Mr. Calvert's monograph, p. 88; also by Valerian von Lo…