World Without Reason: Goya’s Los Disparates

About the event

Exhibition Date: April 5, 2021 – Ongoing

Dreamlike and wonderous, yet gravely dark and harrowing, are all descriptors associated with Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes’ (1746-1828) last major print cycle, Los Disparates (or Los Proverbios). Published in 1864, thirty-six years after the artist’s death, these masterful etchings are still considered to be enigmatic and ambiguous, eluding definitive explanation and interpretation. While the Spanish term “disparate” translates imperfectly to “folly”, in Goya’s time the term held harsher connotations closer in meaning to stupidity or madness. And yet, Los Disparates were born of specific circumstances referencing fanatic religious practices of the day, the plight of political prisoners, and the decadence of court life and the aristocracy. Within these remarkable etchings is a realm of witches, ghosts, and fantastical creatures that invade the mind; Goya’s troubled visions remain a potent warning against a world without reason.

The museum is pleased to present from its permanent collection this first edition portfolio including the eighteen etchings and title page originally published in 1864 by the Royal Academy of San Fernando. Four additional Los Disparates plates were identified following the first edition and are not included in this exhibition.

Organized by the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU and curated by Ryan Hardesty. Funding for this exhibition is provided by the members of the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU.