The subject of this drawing is mysterious. A distinctive dome flanked by a tower suggests a specific form of architecture, but what does it represent? The young woman wearing a simple dress and pulling her hair is the most important figure in the composition. The significance of her gesture is unclear. Is she anguished, in pain, happy, or suffering from madness or some other malady? Her expression might even indicate a state of reverie. Despite her dramatic disposition, only two of the surrounding figures—those seated farthest at left—seem to be paying attention to her, hinting at the idea that individuals exist in isolation, disconnected from one another.
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Artwork Details
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Title:A woman pulling at her hair accompanied by a group of figures; page 76 from the "Images of Spain" Album (F)
Series/Portfolio:Images of Spain Album
Artist:Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, Fuendetodos 1746–1828 Bordeaux)
Date:ca. 1812–20
Medium:Brush, brown ink washes, traces of black chalk on laid paper
Inscription: Numbered in brush and brown ink upper right: '76'; to the right of which in pen and dark
ink: '42.' [pertaining to Fortuny Album, no. 42].
Javier Goya y Bayeu, (from 1828); Mariano Goya y Goicoechea (Spanish), (from 1854); Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz (Spanish), (from ca. 1855–1863); Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, (by gift in 1894)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Goya in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 12–December 31, 1995.
Hayward Gallery. "Goya: Drawings from His Private Albums," February 22, 2001–May 13, 2001.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. "Goya: Images of Women," March 10, 2002–June 2, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Goya’s Graphic Imagination," February 8–May 2, 2021.
Gassier-and Wilson 1971, no.1495; Gassier 1973, no. 340
An Exhibition of the Work of Goya Exh. cat., Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale. Paris, 1935, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, Goya Exhibition, 1935, also Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1936.
Francisco Goya : his paintings, drawings and prints. Exh. cat.: MMA January 27 - March 8. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1936, Metropolitan Museum of Art, An Exhibition of the Work of Goya, 1936, also Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1935.
Harry B. Wehle "An Album of Goya's Drawings" in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. vol. 31, New York, February 1936, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. XXXI, 1936 (Feb. ), pp. 23-28 (incl. bibliography)., pp. 23–28.
Harry B. Wehle "Fifty Drawings by Francisco Goya." MMA Papers no. 7. New York, 1938, ill.
Goya: Drawings and Prints. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1955, Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue supplement, no. 230, fig. no. 230.
Pierre Gassier, Juliet Wilson Bareau Goya His Life and Work. London, 1971, fig. no. 1495, part III, p. 294.
Pierre Gassier Francisco Goya Drawings, The Complete Albums. New York, 1973, ill. plate F. 76, p. 452., fig. no. 340, p. 491, ill.
A. Hyatt Mayor Goya: 67 Drawings. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1974, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974, no. 56, repr, fig. no. 56.
Colta Ives, Susan Alyson Stein Goya in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., September 12 - December 31. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1995, Baticle, Jeannine. Goya. Paris: Fayard, 1992.
Delteil, Loys. Le peinture graveur illustré. Vols. 14 and 15, Francisco Goya. Paris, 1922.
Gassier, Pierre. Francisco Goya, Drawings: The Complete Albums. Translated by James Emmons and Robert Allen.
Juliet Wilson Bareau, Tom Lubbock Goya: Drawings From His Private Albums. Exh. cat., Hayward Gallery, London, February 22-May 13, 2001. London, 2001, cat. no. 63, p. 186, ill.
Janis Tomlinson, Francisco Calvo Serraller, Aileen Ribeiro, Concha Herrero Carretero, Anna Reuter Goya: Images of Women. Exh. cat., The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., March 10-June 2, 2002. Washington D.C., 2002, cat. no. 109, ill.
Mark McDonald Goya's Graphic Imagination. New York, 2021, (entry by Mark McDonald), cat. no. 60, pp. 192–93, ill.
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