Exhibition in Vietnam - Fine Arts Museum

Etchings by Goya

( Hanoi, Vietnam, 2008 )

Wed 12 Nov 2008, 6pm – Spanish artist and printmaker Joaquín Capa will give a lectureon the etching techniques used by Franciso de Goya.

- “Art in times of War” -

Opening: Fri 03 Oct, 4pm

Exhibition: 03 Oct-15 Nov 2008

A very special event coming up in Hanoi. Dr. Hans Guggenheim will loan 46 of his Francisco Goya etchings from Goya’s renowned “Disasters of War” portfolio for an exhibition at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi. At the close of the exhibition he will donate 34 of these valuable etchings to that Museum.

In conjunction with this generous donation, the Embassy of Spain in Hanoi in collaboration with the Embassy of the United States of America have organized an exhibition under the title “Art in times of War”, which includes 46 etchings of the series Disasters of War(1810-1820) by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes and a selection of 37 works by Vietnamese graphic artists dealing with the subject of war.

The series Disasters of War by the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya depicts the events that took place during Spains’s War of Independence (1808-1814) against the French invasion by Napoleon, and resulted in Goya creating a very critical and innovative reflection on war, on its causes, brutal signs and consequences.  The art of Goya has gone beyond time, and therefore Disasters of War are sadly up-to-date, and current armed conflicts make these prints come to life again with all their intensity. That ability to show the horror of any war makes Disasters one of the most powerful pleas against violence ever done.

Given the universality and timelessness of the series Disasters of War by Goya, the presentation of the these etchings by the Spanish artist for the first time in history in a country like Vietnam that has so often been affected by war will have a special relevance and their critical and moral message, beyond their aesthetic value, will surely have a clear resonance.

Coordination between the U.S. and Vietnam by C. David Thomas and the IAP.

National Museum of Fine Arts 
66 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hanoi