Goya: The Portraits

Fantastic exhibition at the National Gallery looking at the portrait work of Goya.

I found this show really engaging as it managed to tell a number of stories in a very clear way as well as displaying the pictures beautifully. It shows the growth of Goya as a portrait painter. The first works are lovely but seem rather quaint and naïve although he is already alluding to the great court portrait painter of a different generation, Velazquez. By the later works the pictures show a great insight into people’s characters.

It also showed the stories of a group of people with figures reappearing in different rooms at different ages. I loved the fact the little boy with long blond hair in an early work reappears as a cleric. The audio tour and leaflet adds nice touches of the sitter’s stories and gives a real sense of a generation of people.

There was also a great sense of friendship in the works. A number of the sitters were people Goya worked with or knew well and often they were painted with great honesty such as the man showing signs of a stroke. I loved the picture of Martin Zapater who had been a childhood friend who sent him a puppy.

I always love a painter who paints clothes well and Goya showed a real understanding of fabric particularly lace and I love the room with the pictures of the rival fashionable ladies in black lace outfits.

Closes on 10 January 2016.

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