Cats in Art: Caprichos - Plate 43: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters (de Goya y Luciendes)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I am using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.

Sorry for the delay from my normal Sunday publication date.

Image credit francisodegoya website, Caprichos Plate 43: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, aquatint and etching; size and holder not specified.

Seems that there's a story about the Los Caprichos series of etchings:

Los Caprichos are a set of 80 prints in aquatint and etching created by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya in 1797 and 1798, and published as an album in 1799. The prints were an artistic experiment: a medium for Goya's condemnation of the universal follies and foolishness in the Spanish society in which he lived. 

The criticisms are far-ranging and acidic; he speaks against the predominance of superstition, the ignorance and inabilities of the various members of the ruling class, pedagogical short-comings, marital mistakes and the decline of rationality. Some of the prints have anticlerical themes. Goya described the series as depicting "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".

The work was an enlightened, tour-de-force critique of 18th-century Spain, and humanity in general. The informal style, as well as the depiction of contemporary society found in Caprichos, makes them (and Goya himself) a precursor to the modernist movement almost a century later. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters in particular has attained an iconic status. 

As I regards this plate, the critters seem to be owls--lots and lots of owls--perhaps an homage to the presumed wisdom of those feathered friends.  But I think I can detect a kitty--the black thing perched on the sleeping man's buttocks.  Now, it may actually be an owl, but since this is Cats in Art, I pronounce the creature to be a cat.  Case closed.

Who knows what de Goya y Luciendes was trying to convey here: too much thinking is not good?  Wise owls (meaning wisdom, perhaps?) can become transformed into terrifying beasts?  Life is to be lived, not just thunk about?

I also promised last week to list a few of the artist's other titles, many of which just sound bizarre.  Here is what I wrote then as a teaser:

The other thing that's cool about de Goya y Lucientes' works as I scrolled through them was his imaginative titles, such as The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.  The paintings I typically feature here in Cats and Art, and in the art world in general, have always, to me, had very measured and conservative titles.

Next week I'll include a list of some more of his zinger titles, along with links to the works so you can see the subject matter.  Here's just one example (unfortunately, sans kitties): Here Comes the Bogey-Man.  I just gotta like the bizarre way this guy thought.

Each painting title is a clickable link:

Why Hide Them?

Unfortunate Events in the Front Seat of the Ring of Madrid

When Day Breaks We Will be Off

Duel With Cudgels

What More Can One Do?

Where is Mama Going?

From any of the links above you can click on The Works button and scroll through some of his images and titles.  It's quite interesting!

Cats in Art: Caprichos Plate 60: Experiments (de Goya y Lucientes)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I am using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi. 

Image credit francisodegoya website, Caprichos Plate 60: Experiments, Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, aquatint and etching; size and holder not specified.

I covered a famous image by Francisco de Goya Lucientes for Cats in Art last week, here, which was a traditional oil painting of the time.  For this week I tried scrolling through one of the sites that purport to contain his complete works, looking, of course, for cats.  Part of the way through I came across this unusual pen and ink drawing, or etching, that is part of a larger series of such etchings that de Goya y Lucientes called Los Caprichos.

This strange etching could not be any more different from last week's oil painting.  You have a naked woman who seems to be enjoying herself as she apparently inflicts pain upon some unfortunate guy, a huge demonic goat, a skull, and a couple small animals in the front...one of which is a demonic-looking kitty right there in the front left foreground.  

The cat--despite its small size--looks like it's the hired muscle keeping guard over the proceedings behind.

Seems that there's a story about the Los Caprichos series of etchings:

Los Caprichos are a set of 80 prints in aquatint and etching created by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya in 1797 and 1798, and published as an album in 1799. The prints were an artistic experiment: a medium for Goya's condemnation of the universal follies and foolishness in the Spanish society in which he lived. 

The criticisms are far-ranging and acidic; he speaks against the predominance of superstition, the ignorance and inabilities of the various members of the ruling class, pedagogical short-comings, marital mistakes and the decline of rationality. Some of the prints have anticlerical themes. Goya described the series as depicting "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".

The work was an enlightened, tour-de-force critique of 18th-century Spain, and humanity in general. The informal style, as well as the depiction of contemporary society found in Caprichos, makes them (and Goya himself) a precursor to the modernist movement almost a century later. The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters in particular has attained an iconic status. 

[Gary's Note: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters will be right here in this very space next Sunday...betcha can't wait!]

The other thing that's cool about de Goya y Lucientes' works as I scrolled through them was his imaginative titles, such as The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.  The paintings I typically feature here in Cats and Art, and in the art world in general, have always, to me, had very measured and conservative titles.

Next week I'll include a list of some more of his zinger titles, along with links to the works so you can see the subject matter.  Here's just one example (unfortunately, sans kitties): Here Comes the Bogey-Man.  I just gotta like the bizarre way this guy thought.

Cats in Art: Portrait of Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga (de Goya Lucientes)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I am using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.  

Image credit Metropolitan Museum of Art, Portrait of Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuniga, Francisco Goya Y Lucientes, 1788, oil on canvas, 50" x 40", held by Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Zuffi's comments:

The cat in the left--a female, judging by the three colored coat--has eyes that glitter with yearning.  The tabby on the right is more muted, while the black one in the background is almost invisible, except for the two yellow "lamps" focused on its prey.  It is difficult to arrive at a definitive interpretation of Goya;s famous painting, which is thick with symbolic and even Christological hints.  What is certain is that in the artist's incisive work, dense with meaning, the cat always has negative connotations, linked to evil and the demonic.

I personally think Zuffi has dropped the ball on this one.  While I almost always find his analysis to be spot on, in this case, it's like he has just phoned it in, saying, "The cat is evil, as usual."  And I find the magpie's trust to be fascinating--I mean, there are three kitties right over there, and the bird seems totally unconcerned.  Maybe the takeaway is that trust can be found in some strange, unexpected places.

I also found the museum's website to contain some interesting information.  First off, their quick analysis:

The sitter is the son of the Count and Countess of Altamira. Outfitted in a splendid red costume, he is shown playing with a pet magpie (which holds the painter's calling card in its beak), a cage full of finches, and three wide-eyed cats. In Christian art birds frequently symbolize the soul, and in Baroque art caged birds are symbolic of innocence. Goya may have intended this portrait as an illustration of the frail boundaries that separate the child's world from the forces of evil or as a commentary on the fleeting nature of innocence and youth.

But what I really found interesting was the fact that this image is currently not on display. Not on display? WTF???

They must have plenty of art in their vaults to have the luxury of keeping this one under wraps.  One can only hope that they trot it out real soon.