7 Oct 2015 – 10 Jan 2016 Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery
Portraits make up a third of Goya’s output – and more than 150 still survive today – but there has never been an exhibition focusing solely on Goya’s work as a portraitist, until this autumn when almost half this number will come together at the National Gallery, London.
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) is one of Spain’s most celebrated artists. He was an incisive social commentator, considered (even during his own lifetime) as a supremely gifted painter who took the genre of portraiture to new heights. Goya saw beyond the appearances of those who sat before him, subtly revealing their character and psychology within his portraits.
Goya’s life spanned more than 80 years during which he witnessed a series of dramatic events that changed the course of European history. Goya: The Portraits will trace the artist’s career, from his early beginnings at the court in Madrid to his appointment as First Court Painter to Charles IV, and as favourite portraitist of the Spanish aristocracy. It will explore the difficult period under Joseph Bonaparte’s rule and the accession to the throne of Ferdinand VII, before concluding with his final years of self-imposed exile in France.
Exhibition curator Dr Xavier Bray says “We are aiming to reappraise his innovative and unconventional approach to portraiture, which often broke traditional boundaries, and provide a penetrating insight into both the public and private aspects of his life.”
This landmark exhibition will bring to Trafalgar Square more than 60 of Goya’s most outstanding portraits from both public and private collections around the world. These include works that are rarely lent, and some which have never been exhibited publicly before, having remained in possession of the descendants of the sitters. The exhibition will show the variety of media Goya used for his portraits; from life-size paintings on canvas, to the miniatures on copper and his fine black and red chalk drawings. Organised chronologically and thematically, we will for the first time be able to engage with Goya’s technical, stylistic, and psychological development as a portraitist.
弗朗西斯科·戈雅（Francisco de Goya y Lucientes）是西班牙最為人熟知的藝術家之一。他既是尖銳的社會批評家，又是極具天分的畫家，他把肖像畫推向了一個新的高度。他不僅把被畫者的外表畫得惟妙惟肖，更精確地傳達了人物各自的性格特征與細膩的心理狀態，還有意無意地在畫中傳達自己對畫中人的看法。此次倫敦國家美術館（National Gallery）的秋季大展《戈雅：肖像》就為觀眾帶來了戈雅60余幅精美的肖像作品，向大家展示了戈雅作為“一位最棒的肖像畫家”的創作成果。
享年82歲的戈雅見證了歐洲一系列劇烈的社會變遷，這次的肖像展也追溯了藝術家從榮耀到黯淡的藝術創作歷程：從最初在馬德裏作為查理四世的首席宮廷畫師時期，到最被西班牙皇室得寵的肖像畫家時期，到約瑟夫·波拿巴統治下的艱難時刻，再到王費迪南德七世登機，最後以藝術家自我流浪到法國的時期而結束。
策展人布雷博士（Dr. Xavier Bray）表示，這次展覽讓我們有機會系統地再次審視戈雅獨具一幟、不同尋常的繪畫肖像的方式，他勇於打破傳統，給我們提供了一個獨特而敏銳的視角去觀察當時的公眾和私人生活。
這次展覽籌備了將近十年，從世界各地的公眾及私人收藏裏借來大量罕見或甚少被借出的作品，其中很多作品都從來沒被公開展示過。《戈雅：肖像》展現了藝術家在肖像畫創作時運用的各種媒介，從真人大小的帆布畫，到銅上的微型肖像畫，甚至纖細的黑紅粉筆畫都一一涵蓋。展覽按主題和年代先後布置的，觀眾第一次可以如此近距離地仔細觀察作為肖像畫家的戈雅在繪畫技術上，藝術風格上和心理上的演變歷程。
Edited by Qiwen Ke
編輯：柯淇雯
