What One Does to Another by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes

Artwork details

Location
Harvard Art Museums
Copyright
CC0 1.0

About this artwork

Editor: This is "What One Does to Another" by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes. It's incredibly grim! You have these skeletal figures carrying what looks like a body, and another figure beneath struggling. How do you interpret this work? Curator: It's about the material consequences of power. Note the figures carrying the burden and the resources consumed in their labor. Goya implicates structures of authority, how they are built upon exploitation. Editor: So, it's not just about death, but who profits and who suffers? Curator: Precisely. Goya used etching to bring to light the realities of the powerless in society. Editor: I never thought about it that way. Thanks! Curator: You're welcome. It's always rewarding to see the material conditions represented in art.

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