around twenty works to (re)discover in Bordeaux

In the summer of 1824, Francisco de Goya arrived in Gironde, fleeing the absolutist restoration of Ferdinand VII in Spain, he who remained marked by the philosophy of the Enlightenment. It is this bicentenary that the Bordeaux Museum of Fine Arts is celebrating (a little on the razor’s edge, admittedly) by offering, from December 13 to April 13, 2025, a new display of prints by the Aragonese artist.

A display, not an exhibition. The museum sticks to this term to the extent that it does not bring in works from other cultural institutions, and that it “only” presents the entirety of its Goya collection. 20 engravings or lithographs – a technique that the artist discovered upon arriving in Gironde – but which are exhibited together for the first time.

This is notably the opportunity to see a “Bull Fight”, a unique event of a lithograph marked by a tangle of men, horses and cattle. Or “The Garroted”, apparently the first engraving for which Goya chose the subject: the execution of a gentleman in his prison cell. Produced between 1778 and 1780, this work demonstrates his interest in criminal cases and social issues. “Which did not prevent him from continuing his activity as a court painter,” recalls Sylvaine Lestable, curator of the museum and curator of this new exhibition.

The other engravings are reproductions of paintings by Velasquez – Goya created 11, the Bordeaux museum has 10 – commissioned by the Spanish royalty at the end of the 18th century.^e century: portraits of aristocrats, dwarves or personalities from ancient Greece. “But Goya is not servile in relation to his model,” points out Sylvaine Lestable. He seeks to transpose effects obtained with oil painting into the etching technique. »

A “real” exhibition in 2028

A good thirty years and we discover his “Bulls of Bordeaux”, lithographs produced in 1825 “based on his memories of scenes observed in Spain; These are not the fights he saw in Gironde.” The movement is everywhere. The violence is recurring, as in this view of a picador lifted by the horns of a bull. “The line is very spontaneous. Goya draws as he paints, placing the stone on an easel. In doing so, he inaugurated what impressionism would be. »

The tour ends with five lithographs by Odilon Redon from a series entitled “Homage to Goya”. The link between one and the other? “The same taste for subjects of dreamlike or fantastic inspiration. » Which ultimately gives a relatively disparate ensemble, but nourished by works which all have a strong singularity. And by presenting another aspect of Goya’s work.

This display is in fact thought of as a foretaste of a “real” exhibition planned for 2028, for the 200 years of his disappearance. We should see his famous “Milkmaid of Bordeaux”, on loan from the Prado museum, as well as his drawings made in Gironde (more than a hundred). In the meantime, access to these first works is at the museum’s usual prices (3.50 and 6 euros). That too is the difference between an exhibition and a hanging.

Details on musba-bordeaux.fr