Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
Los Desastres de la Guerra (Delteil 120-199; Harris 121-200)
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
Fuendetodos 1746 - 1828 Bordeaux
Los Desastres de la Guerra (Delteil 120-199; Harris 121-200)
the complete set, comprising eighty etchings with burnished aquatint, drypoint and engraving, 1810-20, very fine, rich and early impressions from the first edition, Harris's Ia, before the corrections to the titles of plates 9, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 and 39, published by the Real Academia de Nobles Artes de San Fernando, Madrid, 1863, on wove paper, many sheets with a partial J.G.O or palmette watermark, with the title page and biographical essay, bound in red morocco with slipcase
each sheet (approx.) 9 ½ by 12 ⅝ in. 24.2 by 32 cm
overall: 10 ⅜ by 13 ½ in. 26.5 by 34.2 cm
With William H. Schab Master Prints & Drawings, Inc., New York;
From whom acquired by the present collector, 2007.
L. Delteil, Le Peintre-Graveur Illustré: Goya, Paris 1922, cat. nos. 120-199, other impressions illustrated;
T. Harris, Goya: Engravings and Lithographs, Oxford 1964, cat. nos. 121-200, other impressions illustrated.
Although Goya devoted several years to this vast and seminal series, political circumstances prevented its publication during his lifetime. Following King Ferdinand VII's facilitation of the French invasion of Spain in 1823, Goya abandoned the project. It remained unpublished until after his death, when the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando issued the first edition in 1863.
Prior to publication, the plates were cleaned and reworked, and titles were added. In the process, however, the publisher introduced errors on eight plates. As these mistakes were gradually corrected during the printing of the first edition, sets containing several uncorrected titles, such as the present example, rank among the earliest examples. As Tomás Harris notes, the scale of the edition resulted in considerable variation in quality, with the full subtlety of many plates preserved only in the earliest printings.
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