Lion Feuchtwanger, "Goya, or the Hard Path of Knowledge": the wanderings of talent in an era of impending progress

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The life of geniuses, whose talents seem to be bestowed by higher powers and are able to influence the minds of several generations to come, is largely unclear and mysterious to us. How are these advanced ideas and thoughts born? How are centuries-old masterpieces created that still make our hearts tremble and our souls renew? In the novel by the German writer Feuchtwanger "Goya, or the Hard Path of Knowledge" this veil of the secret life of a man who had a tangible impact on his contemporaries and descendants is just slightly opened.

History or fiction?

The work is based on real events of the 18th century and the people who at that time decided the fate of the state. Political intrigues, manipulations and games, luxury with the threat of disgrace, lovers and passion - all these are integral components of the reign of King Charles IV of Spain and Queen Marie Louise. At the center of this confusion, at the intersection of the interests of the nobility, the church and the working peasants, he is Goya - the undoubted talent of his age, a recognized genius.

Through the prism of his art, he dared to expose vices and whims, creating both attractive and disgusting works of art. And here Feuchtwanger weaves fiction into "Goya", the threads of which are closely connected with historical facts and persons, forms an integral picture, unable to leave us indifferent just like the canvases of the master himself.

Artist and politics

The talent of a simple guy from a middle-class family was not questioned, but the path to universal recognition was not easy. Goey's stubborn denial of the canons of classicism and academicism could play a cruel joke and set the Inquisition against the artist. But the old school had to come to terms with the new vision until the appointment of the master as director of the Royal Academy. Inspired by the works of leading writers and artists, even then the need was in the air to throw off the shackles of prejudice, renew and progress.

Feuchtwanger's Goya is an artist with an inexhaustible thirst for the new. His talent only grows stronger and develops over time, acquiring new facets and meaning, which the highest officials of the state could not help but notice. The indisputable fact is that the master was close to the royal couple, being their court painter. He painted many portraits of all the highest nobility. Unwittingly, Goya could well have been involved in political intrigues weaving on the sidelines of luxurious palaces.

So the duality of his personality was born. A simple hard worker who fought for his bread, scoffed,swearing, threatening, defending a place in the sun, "getting along" with a painter treated kindly by the nobility, who had the closest access to the rulers of the country. And it was this internal struggle of opposites, reinforced by talent and madness, that awakened in Goya a sense of justice and burning pain for the fate of the country, which was wounded by the actions of the Inquisition. Despite the danger of having an opinion different from the recognized one, Goya dared to express it in his paintings, where scenes of everyday life are depicted both attractive and repulsive.

Women and Master

Depravity and passion run like a red thread through Feuchtwanger's Goya. These emotions, which the artist more than received from the femme fatales of his time, gave rise to madness in him, but inspired the best paintings. Love walked alongside hate, on an equal footing they influenced the soul of the artist, destroyed his mind and soul. But it was during the period of deep and wild experiences that the master could create masterpieces made with innovative techniques, splashing onto canvases both pain and happiness, which were inseparable in his fate.

Yes, and Spain itself is here in the role of a woman. She is maha. Bold, rough, defiant, fearless, passionate and daring - digs into the soul so that it stays there forever.

This was Goya's beloved in Feuchtwanger's novel. Their relationship has not been historically confirmed; one could only guess about it from the works of the master. She was a dangerous woman who had an indelible influence with her viciousness, voluptuousness and rebelliousness, which so inspired the artist, butcorroded his soul.

Madness and talent

The main protest against the ossified medieval charters and orders were the last paintings by Goya, which depicted scenes of private life and at the same time were the personification of all the vices and filth that reigned in Spain. The master, on the other hand, gave himself up to feelings to extremes, and with age he began to be overcome by that madness that seemed to provoke demons not only in his head, but also among people.

This is how Feuchtwanger sees Goya - a man who felt the world and those around him differently. This artist reflected in his canvases, which still engender horror in us, but make us look deep into ourselves. The realization that madness and fears were increasingly absorbing the artist's soul, destroying it with pain and suffering, makes his work even more attractive, deep, filled with meaning.

Value

The painter in the novel is an imperfect person, a true Spaniard who is not indifferent to the fate of his country. Goya passes on his ardor and sincerity to future generations through his paintings. His passionate nature helped create exciting things, because without broken foundations there will be no innovation.

Therefore, for Lion Feuchtwanger, "Goya" is the main work of his entire literary career. And if before this work you were not familiar with the artist’s canvases, now you want to know what this wounded, deep and loving soul looked like, to understand the master, to see his demons in order to fight your own.