![Prado_-_Los_Desastres_de_la_Guerra_-_No._01_-_Tristes_presentimientos_de_lo_que_ha_de_acontecer](https://blogs.sjsu.edu/humanities-arts/files/2015/08/Prado_-_Los_Desastres_de_la_Guerra_-_No._01_-_Tristes_presentimientos_de_lo_que_ha_de_acontecer-1vo6mtj-300x242.jpg)
![Prado_-_Los_Desastres_de_la_Guerra_-_No._09_-_No_quieren](https://blogs.sjsu.edu/humanities-arts/files/2015/08/Prado_-_Los_Desastres_de_la_Guerra_-_No._09_-_No_quieren-1wwzadr-300x221.jpg)
Art historians are unclear what Goya’s ultimate intentions were for the etchings, but they were considered so incendiary that they weren’t published until 35 years after his death. Our only direct link to the painter’s thoughts are the captions he wrote for the prints, with titles like the straightforward Escapan entre las llamas (They escape among the flames) depicting men and women fleeing a burning city, to the enigmatic No quieren (They do not want to) showing an elderly woman preparing to stab a soldier who’s attacking a young woman. This latter print depicts a scene that afflicted many during Goya’s lifetime: women raped by the invading army.
The San José community will experience Goya’s prints thanks to the combined efforts of several entities: the exhibition was curated by Janis Tomlinson from the University of Delaware; it’s on loan from Pomona College Museum of Art; and it will be displayed at our campus gallery thanks to the generous endowment of Natalie and James Thompson. On November 3, during the closing week of the show, the College’s dance program will perform a choreographed response to the artist’s vision.
These devastating images created by Goya two centuries ago serve as a powerful reminder to current generations about the price of war.
Los Desastres de la Guerra is on display at the Natalie and James Thompson Gallery September 1 through November 6; the exhibition is free and open to the public. For more details visit the gallery’s website.