3 Bll. aus ‘Los Proverbios’ 1815 - 1823

Editor: This is "3 Bll. aus ‘Los Proverbios’", or "Three Prints from 'The Proverbs'," created by Francisco de Goya between 1815 and 1823, using etching. The figures with bat-like wings immediately struck me – what’s your perspective on this fantastical scene? Curator: I see a potent critique of power and its mechanisms of control embedded in the etching process itself. Consider how Goya manipulates the copper plate. Each etched line, each area of aquatint, represents a deliberate act of labour, almost a form of cultural excavation revealing social anxieties. Editor: Could you elaborate on that idea of “cultural excavation”? Curator: Goya's choice of etching as a medium allowed for wider distribution. In effect he democratised the critique by its mechanical reproduction. Think about the acid, biting into the metal; its violence parallels the societal violence he’s portraying, wouldn't you say? The materiality mirrors the message. Editor: That's a very interesting way of thinking about it. So, you're suggesting the printmaking process itself is a commentary on labor and society? Curator: Precisely. The multiple stages required to create the etching -- the grounding, the drawing, the biting with acid, the inking and the pressing -- are all labour intensive. In viewing, how much does one consider those choices as inherent content, not merely technique? What meanings can the commodification of printed imagery generate? Editor: I never really thought about it that way. Focusing on Goya's methods gives me an entirely new way of interpreting it. Thank you! Curator: Indeed. Paying attention to materiality enriches any interpretive experience. It allows us a glimpse of labor otherwise unseen in high art, helping connect us more closely to broader issues of production, consumption, and ideology in society.