Francisco Goya

Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter and printmaker whose work spanned the transition from Rococo to Romanticism and foreshadowed modern art. Court painter to Charles IV, Goya painted elegant portraits, but also used his art to critique society and politics. His Los Caprichos etchings satirized human folly, while The Third of May 1808 and The Disasters of War conveyed the horrors of conflict. Later, his Black Paintings expressed deep personal and psychological anguish. Goya’s fearless exploration of human nature and social injustice established him as a foundational figure in European art and a precursor to modern expressionism.