Goya

"Goya" by François Crastre is a biography that tells the story of Francisco José Goya's life, a famous Spanish painter, and how his art brought Spanish painting back to life after being in a slump; the biography also shows his genius and the ups and downs of his life. It talks about how he started out, how he became famous, and what he added to portrait and everyday-life painting. The biography follows Goya’s path from being a nobody in Fuendetodos to painting for the king of Spain. It points out his art lessons with Don José Lujan Martinez and his time in Madrid and Italy, where he improved his skills. The text paints a picture of Goya as someone with strong feelings, who often went against the rules, and it describes his relationships with the Spanish royal family and how he changed from painting traditional things to painting about the hard times he lived in, especially when France took over Spain. It looks at important works, like "The Caprices", showing how he used art to talk about what was wrong with society, which made him one of the best Spanish painters ever. The biography ends with Goya living in another country, showing how his art continues to be important, as he captured what it was like to live in Spain.