Concert
1794 - 1795. Brush, Wash, Bistre on laid paper.Not on display
In the first page of his Madrid Sketchbook, Goya depicted scenes of flirting between young people our walking, amorous affairs in meeting places on the outskirts of the city, and social gatherings. This drawing (Album B, 27) present with obvious humor a common form of entertainment habitual in these cases which consisted in the performance of popular songs. The young woman is playing a piano, while a man no less elegant than she accompanies her in song.
The Madrid Sketchbook is of a larger size than the Sanlúcar Album. In its more than ninety known drawings, it reveals technical and expressive differences which demonstrate an evolution from the latter´s delicate drawings. However, the initial pages are very alike in form and concept, so they could be considered contemporary. Again the artist focuses on the feminine world, with strolling majas, procuresses, and gentlemen courting them, thought disputes, quarrels and jealousy are shown as well. The technique used here as well was the grey soot ink wash, which Goya had perfectly mastered.
In this second part of the Sketchbook the technique becomes more abstract; the delicate washes disappear, and the chiaroscuro is accentuated. The nature of the scenes also changes here, with the appearance of drama, masks, flagellants, witches, and an obvious satire on resolute of the clergy. In his second segment, Goya included titles for his drawings, which must be considered to have been made in later years, perhaps in late 1796 or 1797. Goya drew many of the subjects for the Caprichos series from these pages.
Matilla Rodríguez, José Manuel, Ligereza y atrevimiento. Dibujos de Goya, Santander, Fundación Botín, 2017, p.67-68 n.29A; 172 n.29A
