The Black Paintings I

    Art is a form of expression. Throughout the centuries it took different shapes and forms but one that has accompanied humanity from the beginning is painting. Starting with cave drawings of animals or hand prints, and moving on to the abstract forms of Pollock and Rothko, we can see that it has been used to express the widest range of emotions and ideas. 

    With the main focus of this blog, naturally may come a question: what is the best representation of horror in the world of painting? The most obvious answer would place us either in the modern days, with the works in the likes of the ones of Beksinski, which are the interpretation of the literal nightmares of the author, or in the medieval visions of Hell created by artists like Bosch.

    But to me, the title of the most terrifying paintings goes to Francisco Goya’s series known as “Black Paintings” (esp. Pinturas Negras). Goya was always considered a master in his craft, his talent even earned him a position of the royal painter for spanish monarchy.

 

-one of Goya's autoportraits

 

    But as the years went by, his works started to change, he became critical of the surrounding society, focusing his works on darker and heavier subjects, which eventually led to his withdrawal from public life. He moved to the outskirts of Madrid, to his estate known as the villa of the deaf (interestingly named after it’s previous owner, but since Goya also lost his hearing the local name remained). That’s where he started to create the Black Paintings. Each work was painted on a part of the wall inside of the house, hiding it from the public for the coming years.

- presumed locations of the paintings inside the house

     

    Their form was unusual; it rejected the common rules set for the artists at the time, creating unpolished shapes in black and greyish tones.
Two pieces of the set that I find to be the most unsettling are: Saturn Devouring His Son and Half-drowned dog (or just the dog).