Exhibition of Goya Engravings Arrives at Rio’s Caixa Cultural

By Jack Arnhold, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – From Tuesday, July 10th to Sunday, October 7th 2018, Rio’s Caixa Cultural will be hosting an exhibition of twenty engravings by the Spanish master, Francisco Goya, entitled ‘Loucuras Anunciadas’ (Madness Announced).

The collection featured in the exhibition, also called ‘Disparates,’ or ‘Provérbios’ (Proverbs) was acquired by the Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1864, over thirty years after the artists’ death. The enigmatic engravings are Goya’s last graphic works and reveal nightmarish visions, violence, sex, as well as criticisms of absolutist power, state violence, Spanish institutions and religious oppression.

The period in which the engravings were made was never documented. However, experts believe that they must have been produced during the years of 1815 to 1820, with Goya deciding against their publication, due to the persecution of Enlightenment culture at the time.

According to curator Mariza Bertoli, the exhibition will also feature interactive activities. “I thought of a space that would generate disquiet and curiosity. The participants will be experiencing, in fact, an aesthetic exercise. The aesthetic of art is to move us, and its purpose is to place us in the work too; thereby promoting a sensory experience.” She explains.

This is an ideal exhibition for those who attended the recent screen printing workshops held at Caixa Cultural, as it allows them to observe a master of graphic art’s most incisive works; and anyone who saw one of the soviet films exhibited recently will also be interested to see another example of artistic expression, once censored by an authoritarian regime, now free for all to see.

What: Francisco Goya – ‘Loucuras Anunciadas’ (Madness Announced)
When: Tuesday, July 10th to Sunday, October 7th 2018; opening hours 10AM-9PM
Where: Caixa Cultural – Avenida Almirante Barroso, 25 – Centro
Entrance: Free