Francisco de Goya and the Seizing Impenitent

The painting, St. Francis and the Dying Impenitent (1788) by the Spanish Baroque painter, Francisco Goya, is discussed by the author within the context of epilepsy and biographical events in the lives of both the saint and the painter.

Miejsca ojczyste w muzyce kompozytorów hiszpańskich XIX-XX wieku. Propozycja dydaktyczna

<p>W twórczości muzycznej hiszpańskich kompozytorów dostrzegamy dość wyraźnie wyodrębniony nurt dzieł, dla których źródła inspiracji wyłoniły się z geograficzno-kulturowych toposów ojczystego kraju. W tytułach tego typu utworów pojawiają się nazwy regionów Hiszpanii (m.in. Asturia, Kastylia, Aragonia, Katalonia, Baskonia, Andaluzja), jej miast (np. Granada, Kadyks, Ronda, Jerez, Kordoba), nierzadko w ścisłym powiązaniu z<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">e</span> różnymi znaczącymi fenomenami historyczno-kulturowymi i artystycznymi (np. malarstwem Francisco Goi). Uwagę naszą przyciągną kompozycje czołowych twórców hiszpańskich z końca XIX i początku XX wieku: Francisco Tárregi (1852-1909), Isaaca Albéniza (1860-1909), Enrique Granadosa (1867-1916), Manuela de Falli (1876-1946) i Joaquina Turiny (1882-1949). Zaznaczmy, że będzie to jedynie zasygnalizowanie wskazanego zjawiska, głównie dla celów edukacyjnych; jego pełne i wszechstronne przedstawienie wymagałoby obszerniejszego studium.</p><p>Różnorodność i kontrasty, które stanowią o specyficznym charakterze Hiszpanii, dają się zauważyć w wielu miastach tego kraju, a kultury arabska, żydowska i chrześcijańska – zarówno w swoich czystych przejawach, jak i tych będących rezultatem wzajemnych wpływów – tworzą dorobek historyczny i artystyczny trwale obecny do naszych czasów. Nadając utworom tytuły związane z ważnymi miejscami swojej ojczyzny – co istotne, z uwzględnieniem zakorzenionych w nich fenomenów kulturowych i muzycznych (folklor, tańce, pieśni, instrumentarium), kompozytorzy hiszpańscy, poprzez muzyczną „geografię”, utrwalili w pamięci kolejnych pokoleń „mapę” swojego kraju, zapewnili jednocześnie muzyce hiszpańskiej trwałe miejsce w kulturze światowej.</p><p><strong>Native Places in the Music of Spanish Composers of the 19th-20th centuries. A Didactic Suggestion</strong></p>SUMMARY<p>In the musical works of Spanish composers of the 19th and 20th centuries we can perceive a clearly distinguished trend of works for which inspiration sources emerged from the geographic-cultural topoi of their native country. The names of regions in Spain (e.g. Asturias, Castile, Andalusia), its towns (e.g. Granada, Cadiz, Cordoba) frequently appear in the titles of these types of work in close connection with various important historical-cultural phenomena, e.g. with the paintings of Francisco Goya). We see it in the compositions of leading Spanish composers of the late 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries: Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909), Isaac Albéniz (1860-1949), Enrique Granados (1867-1916), Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), and Joaquin Turina (1882-1949). In the article, the author discusses inter alia: Wspomnienia z Alhambry [Memories of Alhambra] by Tárrega, I Suita hiszpańska [Spanish Suite no. 1] and Iberia by Albéniz, Goyescas by Granados, Noce w ogrodach Hiszpanii [Nights in the Gardens of Spain] by de Falla. By giving their works the titles connected with important places of their motherland, including also various cultural and musical phenomena rooted in them (folklore, dances, songs, instrumentation), the Spanish composers commemorated “the map” of their country in the memories of subsequent generations, and at the same time, ensured Spanish music a constant place in the world culture.</p>

Idea of common good (el bien general) in the series of etchings “The Disasters of War” (“Los Desastres de la Guerra”) by Francisco Goya (based on the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum of Art funds)

The ideas of the Enlightenment (first of all the French, with the most famous of its representatives – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu and François-Marie Arouet Voltaire) not only influenced the political sphere of the Eighteenth century but also art. Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was directly convinced by these ideas: he took a passive part in the Napoleonic wars and was a friend of the prominent representatives of the Spanish Enlightenment. The study aims at analyzing interactions between text and image in the series of etchings of F. Goya “The Disasters of War” and the reception of the idea of «common good» in the etching 71 “Against the common good”. We have chosen several theoretical and methodological tools to deal with narrative and visual sources. Hermeneutics and semiotics belong to the specific methods used in the process of analysis of engravings. Comprehensive approach is determined by the usage of F. Goya both extraverbial and verbal (double numbers of etchings and artionims, ekfrasis) means. The methodological basis of the study is made up wit the principles of complexity, historicism and scientific character. The main methods were iconographic and iconological; empirical, prosopographical, method of synthetic and analytical source criticism; comparative-historical analysis. Probably, Francisco Goya, who also criticized the contemporary obscurantism in Spain (which is especially reflected in the series of etchings “Los Caprichos”), turned to the ideas of the French enlightenment, which gave rise to possibly unconscious reminiscences and allusions in his work. Thus, we are interested mainly how Goya indirectly or even unconsciously borrowed ideas from the Enlightenment movement, which spread rapidly all over Europe. In this case studying direct borrowings from J.-J. Rousseau’s ideas played only minor role.

Ensor, James Sydney Edouard (1860–1949)

Prior to the outbreak of World War I, James Ensor (b. 1860 Ostend, Belgium–d. 1949 Ostend, Belgium) worked during the summer months in a souvenir shop owned by his family in the Belgian seaside resort of Ostend. His artistic career took place in the political, financial and cultural capital of Brussels, which was a train ride away from his home. From 1877 to 1880 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, where he participated in Les XX group, La LibreEsthétique artistic society, and the Galérie Georges Giroux. He took part in the cultural life and nightlife of Brussels, where he met literary friends, art lovers, and his mistress Augusta Boogaerts. Ensor believed that the capital sin of producing aesthetic banality could be successfully combated by constantly exploring new subject matter, genres, techniques, materials, styles, and artistic disciplines (he wrote articles and composed music as well). Ensor explored the possibilities of any specific artistic project usually by radicalizing an existing model. His desire to experiment with Realism, Symbolism, Impressionism, Rembrandt’s light, the grotesque repertoire of Hiëronymus Bosch and Francisco Goya, or the farces of Pieter Brueghel resulted in iconographic and stylistic incoherent drawings and paintings with a surreal character. Occasionally Ensor used line, form, brush strokes, and color in an almost autonomous manner. He often employed one of his favored images, the mask, as an ambiguous and psychologically affecting motif (usually as an instrument of unmasking). Since the 1960s, scholars have investigated the subversive function of Ensor’s combination of social and political satire, religious subject matter and a highly private iconography.

Siqueiros, David Alfaro (1896 –1974)

David Alfaro Siqueiros was one of the founders of the mural movement in Mexico. Together with Diego Rivera and Jose Orozco, Siqueiros joined the struggles of the Mexican revolution by fighting in the front lines, participating in political groups, and depicting the ideals of the movement in his murals. His art reflects his engagement with both Marxism and modern technology. Being influenced both by Futurism and the compositional and thematic concern of artists such as Michelangelo and Francisco Goya, Siqueiros’s murals are a unique mixture of traditional and modern. Murals such as the Proletarian Victim (1933) express the impact of oppression upon the lower classes, while Echo of a Scream (1937), on the other hand, shows the suffering at the level of the body and the mind, and highlights the suffocating and overwhelming character of modern technology. The latter work’s evocation of trauma, and the effect of trauma through generations, was an important theme in Post-Revolution Mexico. The impact of modern life and its technological changes is also central in Siqueiros’s work. More than just depicting modernity, Siqueiros’s use of modern materials and pictorial techniques such as synthetic paints and spray guns was revolutionary. Through his teaching in Latin America and the USA, Siqueiros introduced these new materials and techniques to a myriad of artists, and having an extensive impact upon art in North America. More than propagandistic, Siqueiros’s works are important aesthetic statements with their forced perspectives and multiple viewpoints, as well as their affective color arrangements.