Francisco Goya
03 September - 01 November 1998
These two famous works by the notable Spanish artist
Francisco Goya (1746-1828) usually hang in the Prado, Madrid and only
rarely leave their permanent home.
A maja is a woman whose life is devoted to the pleasures of love. Spirited
and seductive majas embodied the ideal of attractiveness in late 18th-century
Spain. Goya's works are not only very original depictions of a contemporary
figure, but also reveal changes in his pictorial style
at the turn of the century. With its grace and artificiality, Maja Naked
is rooted in 18th-century art, while Maja Clothed, with its Oriental exoticism
and sensual frankness, anticipates 19th-century Romanticism.
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