Tomas Harris was a collector of Goya’s prints, and had studied Francisco Goya’s techniques as an engraver at the Slade School of art after the war. He created many engravings of his own to help him understand the methods that Goya had used. 

Francisco Goya - A self PortraitTomás’s Goya print collection, part of it now available for study in the British Museum’s Department of Prints and Drawings  and his two volume Goya Prints and Lithographs (Oxford, Bruno Cassirer, 1964) have made a major contribution to the understanding of Goya’s etching and lithographic techniques, and have greatly increased the general appreciation of that part of the Spanish artist’s work.

Not knowing anything really about Francisco Goya and his methods of engraving, I found this story (Goya’s Ghosts) very informative and interesting. The film actually shows in quite a bit of detail how the copper plates were made, how the engravings were etched, and how they were then processed to create prints. A very complex looking process I see .. 

View the Trailer for Goyas Ghosts

Click Image to Read more about Goya’s Ghosts, and view the TRAILER

 

Goya’s Ghosts was made in 2006, (click link to view the Goya’s Ghosts Trailer ) directed by Milos Forman,  and starring Javier Bardem,  Natalie Portman, and  Stellan Skargaerd as Francisco Goya (the Spanish painter initially favoured by Royalty).    Goya is targeted by the Spanish Inquisition after he had painted a young girl whom the church views as a heretic.  The story is described by Netflix as a true epic, by the Oscar winning director Milos Forman.  Years later, the young girl is released from the dungeon and requests Goya’s help in finding the daughter she bore while imprisoned.  (I have read elsewhere that the story is not true, but is based on true historical facts).  All the same an enjoyable movie.

 

Other links  that may be of interest :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goya’s_Ghosts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Goya

Post written by: Anita Harris