Francisco Goya Quotes on Art

Francisco Goya was a famous Spanish painter, draftsman and printmaker. He is best known for his court works, iconic works like his May Second and May Third paintings, his shocking war etchings, and his late darker works where he explores the depravity of mankind and the monsters of his imagination. Famous Francisco Goya paintings include “Yard with Lunatics”, “La maja desnuda”, “La maja vestida”, “The Third of May 1808”, “The Second of May 1808”, “Witches’ Sabbath (Aquelarre)”, “The Dog”, “The Colossus”, and “Two Old Ones Eating Soup”.

Mini biography: Born Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes on the 30th of March, 1746 in Fuendetodos, Aragon, Spain. His mother was Gracia de Lucientes y Salvador and his father José Benito de Goya y Franque was a gilder. Goya married the sister of artist Francisco Bayeu, Josefa Bayeu in 1773 and they had one child who lived to adulthood: Francisco Javier de Goya y Bayeu (six other children didn’t survive.) The artist died on the 16th of April, 1828 in Bordeaux, France at the age of 82. He is now buried at the Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida, Madrid, Spain.

List of Famous Francisco de Goya Art Quotes

I have had three masters; Nature, Velasquez, and Rembrandt. Francisco Goya

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

Fantasy, abandoned by reason, produces impossible monsters; united with it, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of marvels. Francisco Goya

I have now established an enviable way of living, and if anyone wants anything from me they must come to me. Francisco Goya

I see only forms that are lit up and forms that are not. There is only light and shadow. Francisco Goya

As I am working for the public, I must continue to amuse them. Francisco Goya

I am now Painter to the King with fifteen thousand reales.. 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

The act of painting is about one heart telling another heart where he found salvation. Francisco Goya

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

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

The sleep of reason produces monsters. Francisco Goya

Art Quotes About Goya

Light is something very special. It has nothing to do with white. Either you see it or you don’t. De la Tour doesn’t have light; Monet hasn’t any light. Matisse, Goya, Chardin, Van Gogh, Sam Francis, Kline have it. But it has nothing to do with being the best painter at all. Joan Mitchell

I keep thinking about Goya and Soutine, and I sort of imagine that at the end of my life I’ll just f**king paint. I’ll be f**king sat in a tiny little room with one light bulb doing self-portraits on my own. There’s a lot of complications with what I do now. You have to be young, you have to be fit, to run the operation that I run, and I certainly don’t think I can get old running an operation like this. Damien Hirst

One of the abiding mysteries of Goya seems to be that so fiery a spirit, so impetuous and sardonic, so unbridled in his imagination, could ever have adapted not just occasionally but consistently, for more than forty years, to the conditions of working for the successive Bourbon courts. Robert Hughes

Francisco Goya Self Portrait Painting

More on Spanish Painter Francisco Goya

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Related or similar popular artists and celebrities include: Rembrandt, Odd Nerdrum, Thomas Eakins and other Famous Spanish Artists.