Nada (Nothing)

1810/1820

Francisco Goya

Associated Names
Francisco Goya
Artist, Spanish, 1746 - 1828
The artwork features an abstract composition with swirling, dark lines and shadows. In the foreground, a skeletal figure is depicted reclined with an outstretched arm holding a paper with the word "Nada." Behind the figure, a mass of faces and forms emerges, resembling a crowd. The background is filled with textured, smoky shapes that evoke a sense of movement, reminiscent of clouds or smoke. The overall effect is one of dynamic tension and abstraction.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, aquatint and lavis with burnishing (proof) on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 22.2 × 32.1 cm (8 3/4 × 12 5/8 in.)
    plate: 15.3 × 19.5 cm (6 × 7 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.4718

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Harris 1964, no. 189, State I(2) (working proof)

  • Series Title

    Los Desastres de la Guerra (plate 69)

Artwork history & notes

Exhibition History

1933

  • An Exhibition of Prints from the Collection of Lessing J. Rosenwald, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, 1933, no. 153.

1945

  • Prints from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, John Herron Art Institute, Indianapolis, IN, 1945, no. 73.

1960

  • Fantasy in the Prints of Goya, Andrew Dickson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1960, no. 39.

1965

  • Drolleries and Demons: Six Centuries of 'Fantastic' Prints, IBM Gallery, New York, NY, 1965, no. 46.

1982

  • Lessing J. Rosenwald: Tribute to a Collector, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1982, no. 43, repro.

1983

  • Graphic Survey Show, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., May 1983.

2021

  • Aquatint: From Its Origins to Goya, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2021 - 2022.

Bibliography

1964

  • Harris, Tomás. Goya: engravings and lithographs. 2 vols. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1964.

1982

  • Fine, Ruth E. Lessing J. Rosenwald: Tribute to a Collector. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1982, pp.131-132, no. 43.

2021

  • Hoisington, Rena. Aquatint: From Its Origins to Goya. Washington, 2021: 226, fig. 11.

Inscriptions

recto: along left edge in graphite in later hand: Nada Ello Dira Goya (KK 736) / X; verso: at bottom right in graphite in later hand: D 188 / II

Wikidata ID

Q64956713

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