FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (1746-1828), It is better to be lazy (Mejor es holgar) Plate 73 from: Los Caprichos

FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES (1746-1828)
It is better to be lazy (Mejor es holgar)
Plate 73 from: Los Caprichos
etching with burnished aquatint, drypoint and engraving, on laid paper, a very good impression from the First Edition, published by the artist, Madrid, 1799, with good highlights, the etching strong throughout, framed
Plate: 8³⁄₈ x 5⁷⁄₈ in. (213 x 149 mm.)
Sheet: 11³⁄₄ x 8 in. (298 x 203 mm.)

Presumably Manuel Fernández Durán y Pando, Marqués de Perales del Río (1818-1886), Madrid.
Don Pedro Fernández-Durán (1846-1930), Madrid; with his stamp (Lugt 747b); presumably by descent from the above.
Don Tomas de la Maza y Saavedra (1896-1975); gift from the above.
With Herman Shickman Fine Arts, New York.
With Stuart Denenberg, Los Angeles.
Private American Collection; acquired from the above.

Delteil 110; Harris 108

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Lot Essay

Prado manuscript: ‘If he who works more is the one who enjoys (life) less, he is right: it is better to be lazy.’

The Ayala text further explains that of the Prado. ‘Women would rather go out begging than to put things in order and work at home’.

Johnson, R. S., Francisco Goya, Los Caprichos, R.S. Johnson Fine Art, Chicago, 1992, p. 172.