| "...their finest pictures were
wrestled from their rightful names generations ago, certified by some expert, and then
sold to a wealthy collector as a Goya." |
The Goya Research Committee is sponsored by Veritus, but operates and publishes
its findings with autonomy. The committee is dedicated to the discovery of the true
identity of the artists who were the creators of the paintings now attributed to Francisco
de Goya. To this end, the Goya Research Committee uses the latest in twenty-first century
technology and forensic investigative methods. Through the use of modern technology, the
Committee is able solve mysteries and to discover centuries
old misattributions. Complete Catalogue Raisonnés in both traditional print media and
DVD's will be made available in the future.
The fundamental problem addressed by this Committee is the authorship of
paintings attributed to the hand of Francisco de Goya. Unfortunately, the actual
authorship of these paintings was lost in a veritable blizzard of attributions to Goya. In
all fairness, Goya has not been alone in this snowstorm of misattribution. Rembrandt van
Rijn, Sir Peter Paul Rubens and Sir Anthony Van Dyck share the same fate. The Rembrandt
Research Committee has recently completed its catalogue, and the results may be viewed at
the Rembrandt Committee site.
It was apparent from the beginning of this study that the number of
paintings attributed to Goya is not logically possible. This observation is easy to
confirm. One only needs to examine the body of works from other successful but less
monetarily valuable artists of the same period. The bodies of works attributed to these
artists rarely reaches one hundred pictures. More often, the number is much less than
fifty. Many students of Goya painted for more than thirty years; yet, they have less than
ten pictures attributed to their names. This lack of paintings attributable to the
followers of Goya is founded in simple truth. Few paintings remain to their credit because
most of their finest pictures were wrestled from their rightful names generations ago,
certified by some "expert," and then sold to a wealthy collector as a Goya.
Sadly, these incorrect attributions are a great disservice to everyone. It
is not fair to Goya to hold him responsible for the paintings of his followers, whether
the paintings be good, bad or indifferent. Such attributions take away from the genius of
Goya. Concurrently, it is not fair to his pupils and followers to have their very best
works taken away and attributed to Goya.
It was obvious to the Committee that a new method and philosophy for
examining authorship was necessary. The Committee was determined not to repeat the errors
of those that came before us. It was crucial to develop a new method for attribution based
on twenty-first century technology. It was imperative that
attribution should not be dependent upon subjective opinions or dubious circumstantial
evidence.
Research is presently being conducted into the paintings of Goya. There is
much work yet to be done before we are prepared to release our findings to the public.
However, our examination to date has shown that approximately large percentage of the
paintings published as works of Goya are by the hands of other artists. The complete
Catalogue Raisonné for Goya should be online in the year 2000.
The Goya Research Committee extends its gratitude to both Veritus and its
sponsors for their kind assistance in this project. The costs of research, computer time,
technology applications and publishing of this site have been made possible by a grant
from Veritus.
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