''Two Old Ones Eating Soup'' (Spanish: ''Dos viejos comiendo sopa'') or ''Two Witches'' (Spanish: ''Dos Brujas'')
[Junquera, 84] is one of the fourteen ''
Black Paintings
The Black Paintings (Spanish: ''Pinturas negras'') is the name given to a group of 14 paintings by Francisco Goya from the later years of his life, probably between 1820 and 1823. They portray intense, haunting themes, reflective of both his fe ...
'' created by
Francisco Goya
Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...
between 1819 and 1823. By this time, Goya was in his mid-70s and deeply disillusioned. He painted the works on the interior walls of the house known as the
Quinta del Sordo ("House of the Deaf Man"). They were not intended for public display. ''Two Old Ones Eating Soup'' likely occupied a position above the main door to the house, between ''
La Leocadia'' and ''
Two Old Men''.
Like the other ''Black Paintings'', it was
transferred to canvas in 1874–1878 under the supervision of
Salvador Martínez Cubells, a curator at the
Museo del Prado
The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...
, Madrid. The owner,
Baron Émile d'Erlanger, donated the canvases to the Spanish state in 1881, and they are now on display at the Prado.
[Hughes, 16–17]
In the image, two elderly figures loom forward from a black background; although they are assumed to be men, their gender is not readily apparent. The mouth of the left figure is drawn into a grimace, possibly from lack of teeth. In stark contrast to this animated expression, the face of the other figure hardly seems alive at all. Its eyes are black hollows and the head in general bears the aspect of a skull.
As in the rest of the ''Black Paintings'', Goya's use of his medium displays an assurance that comes only from a lifetime of experience. Paint is handled freely and rapidly yet with great decisiveness. The palette knife is also used to apply paint in some areas. Blacks, ochres, earth tones and grays are the only colors used, as in the rest of the black paintings.
See also
*
List of works by Francisco Goya
Francisco Goya, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746–1828) was a Spanish artist, now viewed as one of the leaders of the artistic movement Romanticism. He produced around 700 paintings, 280 prints, and several thousand drawings. Goya's ea ...
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
Hughes, Robert. ''Goya''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.
* Junquera, Juan José. ''The Black Paintings of Goya''. London: Scala Publishers, 2008.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Two Old Ones Eating Soup
1820s paintings
Paintings by Francisco Goya in the Museo del Prado
Food and drink paintings
Group portraits by Spanish artists