Yard with Lunatics
Encyclopedia
Yard with Lunatics is a small oil-on-tinplate painting completed by the Spanish artist Francisco Goya
between 1793 and 1794. Goya said that the painting was informed by scenes of institutions he witnessed as a youth in Zaragoza
. Yard with Lunatics was painted around the time of the French declaration of war on Spain, when Goya’s deafness and fear of mental illness were developing, and exasperated by the oncoming war, and he was increasingly complaining of his health. A contemporary diagnosis read, "the noises in his head and deafness aren’t improving, yet his vision is much better and he is back in control of his balance."
Though Goya had to that point been preoccupied with commissioned portraits of royalty and noblemen, this work is one of a dozen small-scale, dark images he produced independently. Uncommissioned, it was one of the first of Goya's mid-1790s cabinet painting
s, in which his earlier search for ideal beauty gave way to an examination of the relationship between naturalism and fantasy that would preoccupy him for the rest of his career. He was undergoing a nervous breakdown and entering prolonged physical illness, and admitted that the series was created to reflect his own self-doubt, anxiety and fear that he himself was going mad. Goya wrote that the works served "to occupy my imagination, tormented as it is by contemplation of my sufferings." The series, he said, consisted of pictures which "normally find no place in commissioned works."
To art historian Arthur Danto, Yard with Lunatics marks a point in Goya's career where he moves from "a world in which there are no shadows to one in which there is no light". The work is often compared to more mature but equally bleak Madhouse
of 1812-19. It has been described as a "somber vision of human bodies without human reason", as one of Goya's "deeply disturbing visions of sadism and suffering", and a work that marks his progression from a commissioned portraitists to an artist that pursued only his bleak and pityless view of humanity.
Goya's symptoms may indicate a prolonged viral encephalitis
or possibly a series of miniature strokes resulting from high blood pressure affecting his hearing and balance. The mixture of tinnitus
, imbalance and progressive deafness is typical of Ménière's disease
, though any latter attempts at prognosis are purely, and only, specualtive. What is known is that he lived in fear of insanity, and projected his fears and despair through his work.
Set in a Lunatic asylum, Yard with Lunatics was painted at a time when such institutions were, according to art critic Robert Hughes
, no more than "holes in the social surface, small dumps into which the psychotic could be thrown without the smallest attempt to discover, classify, or treat the nature of their illness." Goya's yard is overwhelmingly stark, showing shackled inmates enclosed by high walls and a heavy stone arch. Inmates fight and grin idiotically or huddle in despair, all bathed in an opressive grey and green light, guarded by a single man. The work stands as a horrifying and imaginary vision of loneliness, fear and social alienation, a departure from the rather more superficial treatment of mental illness in the works of earlier artists such as Hogarth
.
In a 1794 letter to his friend Bernardo de Yriarte, he wrote that the painting shows "a yard with lunatics, and two of them fighting completely naked while their warder beats them, and others in sacks; (it is a scene I witnessed at Zaragoza)". It is usually read as an indictment of the widespread punitive treatment of the insane, who were confined with criminals, put in iron manacles, and routinely subjected to physical punishment, in ground sealed by masonry blocks and iron gate. Here the patients are variously staring, sitting, posturing, wrestling, grimacing or disciplining themselves. The top of the canvas vanishes with sunlight, emphasizing the nightmarish scene below.
Since one of the essential goals of the enlightenment was to reform the prisons and asylums, a subject found in the writings of Voltaire
and others, the condemnation of brutality towards prisoners, whether criminal or insane, was a subject of many of Goya’s later paintings.
The painting had been absent from public view since a private sale in 1922; today it is housed in the Meadows Museum
in Dallas
, having been donated by Algur H. Meadows
in 1967.
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era...
between 1793 and 1794. Goya said that the painting was informed by scenes of institutions he witnessed as a youth in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
. Yard with Lunatics was painted around the time of the French declaration of war on Spain, when Goya’s deafness and fear of mental illness were developing, and exasperated by the oncoming war, and he was increasingly complaining of his health. A contemporary diagnosis read, "the noises in his head and deafness aren’t improving, yet his vision is much better and he is back in control of his balance."
Though Goya had to that point been preoccupied with commissioned portraits of royalty and noblemen, this work is one of a dozen small-scale, dark images he produced independently. Uncommissioned, it was one of the first of Goya's mid-1790s cabinet painting
Cabinet painting
A cabinet painting is a small painting, typically no larger than about two feet in either dimension, but often much smaller. The term is especially used of paintings that show full-length figures at a small scale, as opposed to say a head painted nearly life-size, and that are painted very...
s, in which his earlier search for ideal beauty gave way to an examination of the relationship between naturalism and fantasy that would preoccupy him for the rest of his career. He was undergoing a nervous breakdown and entering prolonged physical illness, and admitted that the series was created to reflect his own self-doubt, anxiety and fear that he himself was going mad. Goya wrote that the works served "to occupy my imagination, tormented as it is by contemplation of my sufferings." The series, he said, consisted of pictures which "normally find no place in commissioned works."
To art historian Arthur Danto, Yard with Lunatics marks a point in Goya's career where he moves from "a world in which there are no shadows to one in which there is no light". The work is often compared to more mature but equally bleak Madhouse
The Madhouse
The Madhouse or Asylum is an oil-on-panel painting by Francisco de Goya. He produced it between 1812 and 1819...
of 1812-19. It has been described as a "somber vision of human bodies without human reason", as one of Goya's "deeply disturbing visions of sadism and suffering", and a work that marks his progression from a commissioned portraitists to an artist that pursued only his bleak and pityless view of humanity.
Goya's symptoms may indicate a prolonged viral encephalitis
Encephalitis
Encephalitis is an acute inflammation of the brain. Encephalitis with meningitis is known as meningoencephalitis. Symptoms include headache, fever, confusion, drowsiness, and fatigue...
or possibly a series of miniature strokes resulting from high blood pressure affecting his hearing and balance. The mixture of tinnitus
Tinnitus
Tinnitus |ringing]]") is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from a wide range of underlying causes: abnormally loud sounds in the ear canal for even the briefest period , ear...
, imbalance and progressive deafness is typical of Ménière's disease
Ménière's disease
Ménière's disease is a disorder of the inner ear that can affect hearing and balance to a varying degree. It is characterized by episodes of vertigo and tinnitus and progressive hearing loss, usually in one ear. It is named after the French physician Prosper Ménière, who, in an article published...
, though any latter attempts at prognosis are purely, and only, specualtive. What is known is that he lived in fear of insanity, and projected his fears and despair through his work.
Set in a Lunatic asylum, Yard with Lunatics was painted at a time when such institutions were, according to art critic Robert Hughes
Robert Hughes (critic)
Robert Studley Forrest Hughes, AO is an Australian-born art critic, writer and television documentary maker who has resided in New York since 1970.-Early life:...
, no more than "holes in the social surface, small dumps into which the psychotic could be thrown without the smallest attempt to discover, classify, or treat the nature of their illness." Goya's yard is overwhelmingly stark, showing shackled inmates enclosed by high walls and a heavy stone arch. Inmates fight and grin idiotically or huddle in despair, all bathed in an opressive grey and green light, guarded by a single man. The work stands as a horrifying and imaginary vision of loneliness, fear and social alienation, a departure from the rather more superficial treatment of mental illness in the works of earlier artists such as Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
.
In a 1794 letter to his friend Bernardo de Yriarte, he wrote that the painting shows "a yard with lunatics, and two of them fighting completely naked while their warder beats them, and others in sacks; (it is a scene I witnessed at Zaragoza)". It is usually read as an indictment of the widespread punitive treatment of the insane, who were confined with criminals, put in iron manacles, and routinely subjected to physical punishment, in ground sealed by masonry blocks and iron gate. Here the patients are variously staring, sitting, posturing, wrestling, grimacing or disciplining themselves. The top of the canvas vanishes with sunlight, emphasizing the nightmarish scene below.
Since one of the essential goals of the enlightenment was to reform the prisons and asylums, a subject found in the writings of Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and others, the condemnation of brutality towards prisoners, whether criminal or insane, was a subject of many of Goya’s later paintings.
The painting had been absent from public view since a private sale in 1922; today it is housed in the Meadows Museum
Meadows Museum
The Meadows Museum is a museum in Dallas, USA. A division of the Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain, with works dating from the 10th to the 20th century...
in Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, having been donated by Algur H. Meadows
Algur H. Meadows
Algur Hurtle Meadows, was an oilman, art collector, and benefactor of Southern Methodist University and other institutions.-Life:...
in 1967.
External links
- http://smu.edu/meadowsmuseum/collections_Goya_Mad.htmEntry at the Meadows MuseumMeadows MuseumThe Meadows Museum is a museum in Dallas, USA. A division of the Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, houses one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of Spanish art outside of Spain, with works dating from the 10th to the 20th century...
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