Nassau County Museum of Art Presents "Francisco Goya: Los Caprichos"

Francisco Goya: Los Caprichos features an early first edition of Los Caprichos, a set of 80 etchings by Spanish artist Francisco de Goya y Lucientes that was published in 1799. It is regarded as one of the most influential series of graphic images in the history of Western art.

“Capricho” can be translated as a whim, a fantasy or an expression of imagination. In Goya’s use of the term, the meaning deepens, binding an ironical layer of humor over one of the most profound indictments of human vice ever set on paper.

Enigmatic and controversial, Los Caprichos was created in a time of social repression and economic crisis in Spain. Influenced by Enlightenment thinking, Goya set out to analyze the human condition and denounce social abuses and superstitions. Los Caprichos was his passionate declaration that the chains of social backwardness had to be broken if humanity was to advance. The series attests to the artist's political liberalism and to his revulsion at ignorance and intellectual oppression, mirroring his ambivalence toward authority and the church.  Los Caprichos deals with personages populate a world on the margins of reason, where no clear boundaries distinguish reality from fantasy.

Francisco Goya: Los Caprichos opens at Nassau County Museum of Art on Saturday, September 17 and remains on view through Sunday, November 27. The museum is offering several programs that will serve to enhance the viewer’s appreciation of the exhibition. Among these are daily screenings of Goya: Crazy Like a Genius, a film written by the prominent art commentator Robert Hughes, and lunchtime lectures followed by tours of the exhibition on October 13 and November 17. For details, visit the museum’s website, nassaumuseum.org/events.