Francisco de Goya (Spanish, 1746 - 1828)
Goya was an original and enigmatic artist, equally gifted as a painter and printmaker. His appointment in 1786 as painter to the Spanish King Charles IV followed a period in Madrid where he had moved from the north east of Spain. Goya's reputation was built on a variety of works, including religious and historical paintings, portraits and designs for the Royal Tapestry Works. A serious illness in 1793 left him permanently deaf. His etchings illustrate his vivid imagination, exploring man's folly in 'Los Caprichos' and recording man's brutality in 'The Disasters of War'. He spent his last years in Bordeaux, France.