A City on a Rock | Style of Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (Spanish, 19th century) | All | European Paintings | Collection Database | Works of Art

Gallery LabelWhen "A City on a Rock" was purchased in Spain in the mid-1880s by an American collector, it was attributed to Francisco de Goya (1746–1828). The painting is now thought to be by one of Goya's followers and may have been painted as late as 1850–75. The artist has studied Goya's technique, and has produced a painting sufficiently close to his style that it was accepted by most authorities until about 1970. The picture appears to be a pastiche, as many compositional elements derive from autograph works by Goya.

ProvenanceJames S. Inglis, New York (purchased in Spain between 1882 and 1887–d. 1908; his estate, 1908–12; sold to Cottier); [Cottier & Co., New York, 1912; sold for $8,000 to Mrs. Havemeyer]; Mrs. H. O. (Louisine W.) Havemeyer, New York (1912–d. 1929)

Exhibition History

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The H. O. Havemeyer Collection," March 10–November 2, 1930, no. 66.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Francisco Goya: His Paintings, Drawings and Prints," January 27–March 8, 1936, no. 16.

Detroit Institute of Arts. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 2–October 28, 1951, no catalogue.

Art Gallery of Toronto. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," November 14–December 12, 1951, no catalogue.

Seattle Art Museum. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," March 1–June 30, 1952, no catalogue.

City Art Museum of St. Louis. "Thirty-Eight Great Paintings from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 6–February 4, 1952, no catalogue.

Austin, Tex. City Coliseum. "Texas Fine Arts Festival: Metropolitan Museum $1,000,000 Collection of Old Masters," April 18–26, 1953, unnum. checklist.

Richmond. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Goya: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings," January 16–March 1, 1953, not in catalogue.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Goya: Drawings and Prints," May 4–May 30, 1955, no. 188.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection," March 27–June 20, 1993, no. A300.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Goya in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 12–December 31, 1995, unnumbered cat.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting," March 4–June 8, 2003, no. 16.

References

Valerian von Loga. Letter. December 27, 1912.

August L. Mayer. Letter to Walter P. Fearon. December 21, 1912.

V[alerian]. v[on]. L[oga]. Archiv für Kunstgeschichte 1 (1913–14), n.p., no. 45, pl. 45.

Christian Brinton. "Goya and Certain Goyas in America." Art in America 3 (April 1915), p. 89.

August L. Mayer. "Goya." Die Kunst für Alle 38 (December 1922), p. 72, ill.

August L. Mayer. Francisco de Goya. Munich, 1923, pp. 93, 209, no. 551, pl. 254 [English ed., 1924, pp. 72, 174, no. 551, pl. 254].

X. Desparmet Fitz-Gerald. L'oeuvre peint de Goya: Catalogue raisonné. Paris, 1928–50, vol. 1, p. 275, no. 251, pl. 201; vol. 2, p. 307, no. 251.

Tomás G. Larraya. Goya: Su vida, sus obras. Barcelona, 1928, pp. 193–94.

The H.O. Havemeyer Collection: A Catalogue of the Temporary Exhibition. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1930, p. 12, no. 66, ill.

Frank Jewett Mather Jr. "The Havemeyer Pictures." The Arts 16 (March 1930), p. 467, ill., p. 458.

"The H. O. Havemeyer Collection." Parnassus 2 (March 1930), p. 4.

F.J. Sanchez Cantón. Goya. Paris, 1930, p. 99.

Harry B. Wehle. "The Exhibition of the H. O. Havemeyer Collection." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 25 (March 1930), pp. 58, 60.

Alfred M. Frankfurter. "An American Appreciation of Goya." Antiquarian 16 (March 1931), p. 72, ill. p. 31.

Alfred M. Frankfurter. "Masterpieces of Landscape Painting in American Collections." Fine Arts 18 (December 1931), p. 76, ill. p. 32.

H. O. Havemeyer Collection: Catalogue of Paintings, Prints, Sculpture and Objects of Art. n.p., 1931, pp. 48–49, ill.

Francisco Goya: His Paintings, Drawings and Prints. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1936, unpaginated, no. 16, ill.

Harry B. Wehle. The Metropolitan Museum of Art: A Catalogue of Italian, Spanish, and Byzantine Paintings. New York, 1940, pp. 252–53, ill.

José Gudiol. Goya. New York, 1941, p. 90, ill.

Juan Antonio Gaya Nuño. La pintura española fuera de España. Madrid, 1958, p. 178, no. 1095.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The H. O. Havemeyer Collection. 2nd ed. New York, 1958, p. 34, no. 188, unnumbered pl.

Otto Benesch. "Rembrandt's Artistic Heritage: From Goya to Cézanne." Gazette des beaux-arts 56 (July 1960), p. 103.

Vyvyan Holland. Goya: A Pictorial Biography. New York, 1961, pp. 135, ill. p. 54.

Francisco Javier Sánchez Cantón. Goya. New York, [1964], pp. 46–47, fig. 119.

José Gudiol. "Paintings by Goya in the Buenos Aires Museum." Burlington Magazine 107 (January 1965), pp. 15–16, fig. 23.

José Gudiol. Goya. New York, 1965, pp. 38, 130, ill. p. 131 (color).

Gaspar Gómez de la Serna. Goya y su España. Madrid, 1969, pp. 223, 288.

Pierre Gassier and Juliet Wilson Enrique Lafuente Ferrari in Vie et oeuvre de Francisco Goya. Fribourg, Switzerland, 1970, pp. 255–56, 265, no. 955, ill. [English ed., 1971].

José Gudiol. Goya 1746–1828: Biographie, analyse critique et catalogue des peintures. Paris, 1970, vol. 1, pp. 178, 331, no. 674; vol. 4, figs. 1092, 1093 (color detail) [Spanish ed., 1969–70; English ed., 1971, vol. 1, pp. 183, 338, no. 674; vol. 4, figs. 1092, 1093 (color detail)].

José Gudiol. "Goya, uno de sus experimentos pictóricos." Goya (January–February 1971), pp. 229–30, fig. 9 (detail).

Enrique García-Herraiz. "Crónica de Nueva York." Goya (September–October 1972), p. 107.

Jeannine Baticle. Letter to Everett Fahy. February 22, 1973.

Enrique García-Herraiz. "En torno a Eugenio Lucas. A propósito de una exposición." Goya (May-June 1973), pp. 350–51.

Enriqueta Harris. Letter to Everett Fahy. January 29, 1973.

Rita de Angelis. L'opera pittorica completa di Goya. Milan, 1974, p. 128, no. 570, ill. p. 128 and colorpls. 44–45.

Eric Young. "Letter: The Goya in East Berlin." Burlington Magazine 116 (January 1974), p. 47.

Xavier de Salas. Letter to Katharine Baetjer. August 17, 1976.

José Manuel Arnaiz. Eugenio Lucas: Su vida y su obra. Madrid, 1981, pp. 113, 116, 522, no. 422, ill. pp. 117 (color) and 523 (the whole and details).

José Camón Aznar. Fran. de Goya. 4, Saragossa, 1982, p. 107.

Frances Weitzenhoffer. The Havemeyers: Impressionism Comes to America. New York, 1986, pp. 207, 254, 268, pl. 144.

Louisine W. Havemeyer. Sixteen to Sixty: Memoirs of a Collector. 3rd ed. [1st ed. 1930, repr. 1961]. New York, 1993, pp. 132, 323 n. 181.

Susan Alyson Stein in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 260, fig. 106 (installation view).

Gretchen Wold in Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1993, p. 345, no. A300, ill.

José Luis Morales y Marín. Goya: Catálogo de la pintura. Saragossa, 1994, pp. 101, 319–20, no. 438, ill. [English ed., 1997].

Janis Tomlinson. Francisco Goya y Lucientes, 1746–1828. London, 1994, p. 299, colorpl. 244.

Holland Cotter. "World of Goya and Those Who Would Be Goya." New York Times (September 15, 1995), p. C30.

Nigel Glendinning. "Book Reviews." Apollo 141 (March 1995), p. 66.

Paul Jeromack. "Goya: Truth and Enlightenment." Art Newspaper no. 51 (September 1995), p. 12.

Paul Jeromack. "The 'Majas' Mystery." Art News 94 (December 1995), p. 121.

Michael Kimmelman. "At the Met with Roy Lichtenstein: Disciple of Color and Line, Master of Irony." New York Times (March 31, 1995), pp. C1, C27, ill.

Manuela Mena Marqués. "The Metropolitan's 'Bullfight' and Other Related Paintings by Goya." Goya in the Museum's Collection: Controversies and Insights. October 20, 1995.

Susan Alyson Stein in Goya in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1995, pp. 47–48, 54, 62 n. 48, 68, figs. 28, 33 (installation view).

José Manuel Arnaiz. "Nuevas andanzas de Goya: Falsos y auténticos en el Metropolitan." Galeria antiquaria no. 136 (February 1996), p. 42.

Michael Kimmelman. "At the Met with Wayne Thiebaud: A Little Weirdness Can Help an Artist." New York Times (August 23, 1996), p. C25.

Priscilla E. Muller. "Discerning Goya." Metropolitan Museum Journal 31 (1996), p. 175, fig. 1.

María Teresa Rodríguez Torres. "Economía de guerra en Goya. Cuadros pintados con cañas." Goya 250 años después, 1746–1996: Congreso internacional. Marbella, 1996, pp. 139–40, figs. 9–10 (x-rays).

Janis A. Tomlinson. "Evolving Concepts: Spain, Painting, and Authentic Goyas in Nineteenth-Century France." Metropolitan Museum Journal 31 (1996), p. 199, fig. 8.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau. "Goya in The Metropolitan Museum of Art." Burlington Magazine 138 (February 1996), p. 101.

Manuela Mena Marqués in Goya: Un regard libre. Exh. cat., Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille. Paris, 1998, pp. 31, 258 n. 5.

Juliet Wilson-Bareau in Gary Tinterow and Geneviève Lacambre. Manet/Velázquez: The French Taste for Spanish Painting. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2003, pp. 157, 420, no. 16, ill. p. 420 and fig. 5.33 (color).

Juliet Wilson-Bareau in Goya en tiempos de guerra. Exh. cat., Museo Nacional del Prado. Madrid, 2008, p. 42.

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