Yo lo vi” (I saw it) was Francisco de Goya’s comment on the 44th sheet of his “Desastres” from 1863. In view of the current war in Europe, the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection is dedicated to the famous Spanish court painter, who denounced wars and social grievances in his cycles. The exhibition shows all four print cycles, whereby the sheets of the “Caprichos” and “Desastres de la guerra”, which are exclusively available in bound books, can be seen for the first time in their entirety as large projections.
Image above:Los desastres de la guerra, 1810-1820 80 etchings, bound Sheet 18: Enterrar y callar Begraben und schweigen Bury and shut up Collection Julietta Scharf, Berlin Photos: Dietmar Katz, Berlin
With the sale of the 80 etchings and aquatints “Caprichos”, Francisco de Goya (1746-1828) addressed a new clientele for the first time and denounced social grievances. Ten years later, in the 82-sheet cycle “Desastres de la guerra” (1863), he denounced the loss of reason and violence in the struggle against the occupation by Napoleonic troops and the famines at the beginning of the 19th century.
The exhibition shows around three dozen original prints as well as all four of the artist’s print cycles, which also include “La Tauromaquia” (1814-1816) and “Los Disparates” (1819-1823). With his fantastic art, Goya is an important precursor of Surrealism, to which the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection is centrally dedicated.
On the occasion of the exhibition, the film series “Goya on Screen” will take place on 29.9. + 26.10. + 30.11.2022 at 6.30 p.m. each day with films by Konrad Wolf, Carlos Saura and Miloš Forman. Tickets 10 reduced 5 euros, bookable at; www.smb.museum/tickets.
The exhibition is being created in cooperation with Bard College in Berlin and is curated by Kyllikki Zacharias, head of the Scharf-Gerstenberg Collection.
WHEN?
Exhibition dates:
Friday, 19 August until Sunday, 6 November 2022
COSTS?
Entrance free
WHERE?
Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg
Stauffenbergstraße 41
10785 Berlin-Tiergarten
