Review

Les caprices de Goya de Dali has just opened at the Art Museum. Goya has created 80 engravings in aqua fortis - aquantita techniques. From the point of view of the content, themes as Court life are in alternation with the seduction theme. Masked characters haunt through Threatrum Mundi. The carnival enters the stage. The masked-ball is in close connection to the demoniac and magical. Folk traditions color the whole creation, as in Proverbios and Refrenes Populares. Caricatures and masks are in the service an expressive accentuation. Around the witches Sabbath theme present in the picture The big Goot, where this demoniac side is announced before the Caprices, fantastical digressions also spin and they make references to Rokoko and Tiepolo. The themes are inspired by literary works (Moliere, Moratin, Jovellanos). In Caprices, Goya surpassed the Neoclassical theory of the Plausibility, which has its roots in the Enlightenment theory on art, but also belongs to the Spanish Pre-romanticism. Goya found his inspiration sources in the European literature of 18th century (Saint-Martin, Lavates, Mesmer). He reveals a world of dream, of sleep, the atmosphere of delirium as a stressed aspect of knowledge, in a line of ideas that make reference to Nordis, Jean Paul and Lichtenberg. At the figurative level, we can establish a resemblance to Blake or Fussli. Last, but not the least, the scenic techniques and study of the works of Rembrandt have an important part in the stressed luminism which is so typical for the Caprices. In this universe of the imagination and creative force, Salvador Dalis work takes place. Dali continues Goyas work and, without false modesty, he puts below the copies of the original his signature near that of their creator. Originality is only a gap of literary knowledge. The nonsense already emphasized by Goya was hyperbolically led to an ad absurdum. The black and white structure of the models was replaced with colors by Dali. Admirers are transposed in a dream-world from where various odd things emerge unexpectedly. You can also observe certain literary nuances. The literary aspect of this cycle is, first of all, based on epigraph. The motto for each picture was established by Dali himself. The most obvious is the motto of the whole cycle, El sueno de la razon produce monstruos. I must emphasise that this exhibition has a tremendous impact on the viewer. From the very first moment you set foot in the room, you are enchanted and carried away in the unique Dalis world. Is a must see for anyone who aspires to understand fine arts.