War paintings on display at Art Museum

Death, violence and torture are among the themes exhibited in Francisco Goya's print series, "The Disasters of War." The series, now on display at the IU Art Museum, is a chronicle of the Spanish artist's horrified reactions to the invasion of his country by Napoleonic troops during the Peninsular War of 1808-1814. Six etchings from the series will be displayed in the First Floor Gallery of Western Art throughout the fall semester.\n"The works are very visually striking," said Jenny McComas, the museum's curator of western art after 1800. \n"They display famine and guerrilla warfare, among other atrocities."\nMcComas was responsible for choosing three of the six etchings for the display. The entire series, which Goya worked on from 1810-1820, was not published until 1863, 35 years after his death. The series was released late because of the risk involved with circulating politically subversive material. It contains approximately 80 prints in all and is divided into three groups.\n"The first group deals with warfare itself and the revolt of the Spanish peasants against French troops," McComas said. "The second deals with the famine caused by the burning of crops by the French; and the third deals with more metaphorical and allegorical themes. I chose prints from the first two groups because I felt they were the most compositionally striking." \nVivian Halloran, a professor of comparative literature, chose the remaining three etchings on display. She gave a noon talk last month at the art museum titled "Words, Images and Imperial War: On Human Suffering," which drew on Goya's work.\n"One of my colleagues who showed the Goya prints to his undergraduate class asked me to put together the noon talk because my research specialty is Caribbean literature," Halloran said. "A Cuban novel, 'Explosion in a Cathedral' by Alejo Carpentier, mentions the titles of several of the Goya prints..." \nHalloran said she focused on how Goya is presented through Carpentier's work.\n"My overall thesis in the talk was that Carpentier's explicit allusions to Goya's 'Disasters of War' emphasize Goya's role as a writer of titles as much as they evoke the visual dimension of (his) sketches." \nGoya spent most of his career as a court painter and portraitist in Madrid, but later became disillusioned with his aristocratic clientele. McComas said Goya began to express his frustration with society through his art beginning in the 1790s. \n"The 'Disasters of War' prints are very similar to some of Goya's earlier works that satirize the clergy and aristocracy of Spain," she said. "Pieces in the series gradually grow less realistic to include metaphorical images of monsters and animals. These express Goya's veiled political opinions."\nSo far, the display has attracted a noticeable amount of attention. Aside from September's noon talk, a class from the Spanish and Portuguese Department has viewed them.\n"There seems to be a stronger interest in this series than other works on paper have created," said Nannette Brewer, the museum's curator of works on paper. "I don't know if it is because we are in a time of war or if it is just a continuing interest in the artist ... It hits some buttons."\nThe entire "Disasters of War" series is housed in the IU Art Museum, but only a few pieces can be displayed at select times.\n"Because works on paper are susceptible to damage from light, we like to tie their display to a particular program like last month's noon talk," Brewer said. "This installation is only a small display in our permanent gallery." \nPrivate showings of the complete series can be arranged by scheduling an appointment one week in advance. Contact the IU Art Museum by telephone at 855-5445 or e-mail at iuam@indiana.edu. \n-- Contact staff writer Derrick Smith at deresmit@indiana.edu.