Francisco Goya, 1746-1828 : on the threshold of modernity / Rose-Marie Hagen, Rainer Hagen.

Cheerful scenes for gloomy palaces: The tapestry cartoons -- People of yesterday: The portraits -- Nightmare and social critique: Los Caprichos -- They don't smile: Spain's women -- One can't tell why: The Disasters of War -- The skies are empty: The Black Paintings -- A love of fear: The bullfights -- Life and work

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), one of Spain's most revered and controversial painters, is known for his intense, chilling, and sometimes grotesque paintings depicting the injustice of society with brutal sincerity. A court painter to the Spanish crown, he captured, through his works, a snapshot of life in Spain in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Coming at the tail end of the Old Masters period, Goya, with his audacious, subversie, and highly influential works, can be considered the first painter of the modern era. His influence can be seen in the works of artists as varied as Picasso and Francis Bacon. About the Series: Every book in Taschen's Basic Art Series features: a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions a concise biography.