El Prado's 200th anniversary Goya exhibition: “The best painter alive when museum opened”

MADRID'S huge El Prado art museum was 200 years old yesterday (Tuesday) – and to close its second century of life and welcome the start of its third, the management 'knew exactly' who was going to grace its walls: “The best painter alive on the day we opened.”

This was Goya, whose works now form part of a commemorative exhibition opened by Queen Letizia – an exhibition that the gallery's boss Miguel Falomir admits he 'would venture to say' is 'one of the best in the world on at the moment'.

“In it, you'll be able to discover one of the best visual artists of all time on a scale never seen before and of astounding quality – only El Prado could do something like this,” Falomir said when HRH Felipe VI's wife cut the red tape.

One of the capital's 'Big Three' art galleries – along with the Thyssen-Bornemizsa and the Reina Sofía – El Prado was granted the Princess of Asturias Award for Humanities and Communication this year in the first-ever ceremony where the Princess herself gave a speech.

It opened for the first time on November 19, 1819, decked out with some of the most valuable paintings and sculptures gathered up by Spain's monarchs over 30 years, which included three by Aragón-born Francisco de Goya – two portraits on horseback of King Carlos IV and María Luisa of Parma, and the one now known as El Garrochista (pictured).

Goya himself was alive at the time and able to see his own works on display.

El Prado has become one of the most-visited museums on earth, with 2.9 million people passing through its doors in 2018 alone – and is likely to see a record number for 2019 and 2020, with around 150 of Goya's paintings, 500 sketches, a series of prints and unique documents including letters to and from his close friend Martín Zapater.

Of these, 300 sketches belong to El Prado's existing collection and the others come from private and public collections worldwide.

The exhibition, Solo la voluntad me sobra ('I only have too much will'), runs in chronological order starting from his famous Cuaderno Italiano, or 'Italian Notebook', where Goya documents his memories of his first few years of training in Italy, through to his albums in Bourgogne created during the last years of his life when he was based in the French city.

Goya's first sketches reached El Prado in 1872, then a second batch arrived in 1886, and a 'permanent drip-feed' of them have been coming through ever since, says Falomir, including after the artist's death.

But even then, it is thought many hundreds more may be out there.

“The problem is, in part, Spanish collectors' limited interest in that era of art history, and the fact that his sketches were merely the preparatory work for his final paintings – it could be that many were thrown in the bin because Goya himself didn't think they were that important,” say El Prado's heads of sketches and prints, and of 18th-century-to-Goya painting conservation, José Manuel Matilla and Manuela Mena respectively.

As well as his own inventions, Goya's faithful reproductions of works by his idol Velázquez are included, plus the preparatory work for his famous Caprichos and Desastres de la Guerra, both of which are described as 'profoundly-emotional snapshots', and the Disparates series painted between 1815 and 1824 which feature typically-Goya subjects such as bulls, witches and wizards.

The sketches, although less visual to the visitor, are where Goya is truly found, Manuela Mena and José Manuel Matilla say.

“They are the heart of Goya's works from the very beginning of his life,” they explain.

“His technique is exquisite and delicate, and it's amazing to see the accuracy and depth of expression that he reflected in anything he drew.

“In reality, he took advantage of the society of his time to transform it into scenes of humanity of high symbolic value.

“That was his main interest throughout his life: reflecting the human soul, from the worst evil to the purest naïveté.

“And it's all still relevant now: the violence of war and the terrible consequences it brings, ideological control of the multitudes by the élite, violence against women...they all reflect attitudes and vices which, sadly, continue in human life.”

The Goya exhibition remains open at the El Prado until February 16, 2020.