An old man wakes, possibly from a nightmare, and struggles to kick off the bedclothes in which he is entangled. His face is distorted in pain, his brow furrowed and his mouth open. He wrests his right leg free from the sheets, revealing that he is wearing boots. The emphasis on the nicely shod foot hints that this might not be a straightforward representation of sudden awakening. At a time when apparel was a marked signifier of class identity—the press ridiculed the popular interest in the clothing of public figures—Goya may have intended the boot to betray the social status of the man depicted. The suggestion of aristocratic fury underlies a masterly depiction of an easily recognizable psychological state.
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Artwork Details
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Title:He Wakes Up Kicking; a man on the floor kicking his legs after waking from a nightmare; page 13 from the "Witches and Old Women" Album (D)
Series/Portfolio:Witches and Old Women Album
Artist:Goya (Francisco de Goya y Lucientes) (Spanish, Fuendetodos 1746–1828 Bordeaux)
Date:ca. 1819–23
Medium:Brush, carbon black and gray ink and wash, touches of black chalk, scraper, laid paper
Dimensions:Sheet: 9-5/16 x 5-3/4 in. (23.6 x 14.61cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1935
Object Number:35.103.26
Inscription: Inscribed in black chalk, below the image: 'Dispierta dando patadas' (He wakes up kicking); numbered in the upper center, in brush and brown ink: '13'; in pen and dark ink '26.' [pertaining to Fortuny Album I, no.26 ]
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.
Museo Nacional del Prado. "Drawings by Goya," November 19, 2019–February 16, 2020.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Goya’s Graphic Imagination," February 8–May 2, 2021.
Gassier and Wilson 1971, no.1373; Gassier 1973, no.D13 [101]
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.
A Survey of Spanish Painting Through Goya. Baltimore, 1937, (listed)., fig. no. 33.
An Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings, and Prints by Francisco Goya. San Francisco, 1937, California Palace of the Legion of Honor. (listed), pl. 29 (ill.) (gives ex colls and exhibitions), fig. no. 29, p. 37.
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, fig. no. 209.
Pierre Gassier, Juliet Wilson Bareau Goya His Life and Work. London, 1971, (ill. and Listed), fig. no. 1373, part III, p.288, ill.
Pierre Gassier Francisco Goya Drawings, The Complete Albums. New York, 1973, ill. plate D. 13, p. 148, fig. no. 101, p. 162, ill.
A. Hyatt Mayor Goya: 67 Drawings. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1974, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1974, no. 26, repr., fig. no. 26.
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.
Juliet Wilson-Bareau, Stephanie Buck , eds. Goya: The Witches and Old Women Album Exh. cat. The Courtauld Gallery, London. London, 2015, cat. no. 13, pp. 102–3.
Mark McDonald Goya's Graphic Imagination. New York, 2021, (entry by Mercedes Cerón-Peña), cat. no. 82, pp. 240–41, ill.
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