The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 277

CO UJ 'Fantasy deserted by reason produces monsters, and united wttk it, is mother of the arts." Francisco Goya Much of the graphic art of Goya shows us the jhon-. strous side of humanity; Yet the large number of etchings and the smaller group of lithographs, created by to lazquez's originals and Goya's 'etchings, conforming neither to the one or the other but having elements of both. But the excitement of the Lang Gallerypart of the exhibition mounts with the display of Los Caprichos," some of them shown in several states, including trial and working proofs, accompanied by titles given them by the artist and, frequently, by photographs of his preparatory drawings. Proofs made under Goya's own supervision are now distinguished as working proofs whereas those made after his death are called trial proofs. There are 12 editions of the Stead- man correctly observes that the titles given them 'by Goya account or a considerable amount of their often; startling impact "He was, in fact; as biting and succinct in words as he was in visual images," Steadman says.

The Caprichos were etched in the years 1797-1798 af-. the most profoundly moving of Spanish masters, are in, themselves exemplary works of art because they are as rational as they are disturbing in their' content and execution. Examples of the majority of Goya's graphic oeuvre -currently fill the galleries of the Claremont Colleges Lang at Scripps and Montgomery at Pomona. The show made possible by gifts and loans' from Norton Simon and his Foundation contains a good many'op-: portunities to compare various stages of Goya's most famous etchings. Brilliantly and didactically mounted by David Steadman and his staff, it is one of the most.

comprehensive and revealing experiences we can have i of Goya outside of Spain. On view to March 21, this outstanding exhibition will travel to other university galleries. Its. itinerary is still in the making. It has re-1 ceived support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

As we enter, the orientation gallery of the Lang Gai-? lery, it becomes clear that visitors are in for a lively educational experience, free of pedantry and full of imagination. Here we see one example each from the four great graphic series created by Goya "Los Caprichos," "Los Desasteres la Guerre," "Los Proverbios" and La Tauromaquia" along with Goya's early etchings af-; ter Velazquez, related to their source of inspiration by I' -JSil ter the American and French revolutions had taken place, while the ideas of the Enlightenment were still in forca They fascinated artists like Delacroix and pbet critics, including Baudelaire, who found in some of the aquatints the quintessence of the nightmare fantasy. How many layers of meaning and protest Goya packed into these incredible works is succinctly described in the Sayre volume which accompanied an unprecedented exhibition of all of Goya's prints at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts recently. -At first glance the prints may seem as easily under- stood as Goya's etchings after Velazquez: monks devour their fare with relish; witches fly about their business on a moonlit night; an-old woman, rosary in hand, bends protectively toward a pretty young woman, who stretches out her pretty legs while her hair is combed. One might think this pair to be that staple of literature and art, the young lady, and her faithful family nurse.

It is only when one looks carefully "at the printlhat one sees that the old woman has a wicked face and the girl a. sly, seductive expressibrLIn the margin is en- graved the title She prays for her.The roles of the old and evil praying oyer the young liid wanton can only be played by anJ prostitutetand the content of the procuress1 prayer as the girl'is' readied for "work may easily be sarmised. It Is of meaning in the "Caprichos" that form an part of their fas- cinatiooV A contemporary of Goya' ad'mirabiy summed up the impact left on the viewer by these unforgettable works which are given renewed meaning by the barbarities of pur own time when he wrote: "In his harsh, biting spirit, he has profoundly understood the vices, which gnaw at he painted them as though he hated them a Spanish Rabelais in'" deadly earnest, whose humor makes one shudder the mockery written in his magnificent sketches gives you gooseflesh and makes you shiver. One drawing by Goya has said more about Spam than all travei-. er but hiswbrk is little known.

-J Even today the graphic work of ranks with that of Durer, Bembrandi snd Picasso, is nolt nearly as popular as that by other masters. Per-' haps this is due to the" fact that hypocrisy, pride and an obstinate refusal to tipen pne's eyes' and ears to the truth has become a 'universal, rat her than a specific since" Goya created his indictments against tyranny, and war. It is in his "Desastres de la Guerra" (Disasters of War) that Goya presents us with the- most gruelling images of his graphic work. These searing works are the out- come of the Napoleonic invasion 6f Spain that occurred in the spring of 1 80S. the war.

between, France and tot and the fa i J- 1 1 -V." pnoiograpns, ine entrance gaiiery also contains a chart that places Goya's witty and savage indictments of man's follies, superstitions and vices in their proper historical perspective, 'j; Goya etched 19 prints after paintings by Velazquez, i nine of which were published in 1778. Only one of that issue is not represented in the Claremont Colleges exhi-; bitioa Goya greatly admired the earlier Spanish mas- ter. But as a result of genius, he was not con-' tent to make meticulous, faithful copies of Velazquez's paintings in his first major venture into graphic work. Rather he. took the liberty of considerably changing basic proportions as well as details in his transformation of Velazquez's work changes that can be found in Goya's preparatory drawings as well as his final etchings.

The foremost American authority on graphic work, Eleanor A. Sayre, points out in her te- cently published "The Changing Image: Prints by Fran-; Cisco Goya" (New tork Graphic Society: $30) that "the i 'Tier fJiey Go, Pluclety," a gij fo Pomona Cofegi.