According to the explanation published by the MNBA on its website (new renovated design), the previous masterpiece marked the begining of a new chapter in the artistic life of Francisco de Goya. By the second half of the decade of 1790, already recovered from an illness that left him deaf, the artist experienced a profound stylistic change: a new freedom in lay out and in the choice of subjects. From those last years of the 18th Century date his most accomplished portraits and the series "Caprichos", among others
It's this series that call our attention this week. The Museo de Arte Español Enrique Larreta has decided to gather, in one same exhibition, works by Goya (1746- 1828) and Dalí (1904-1989). The first one  provides his series of etchings. The latter intervenes them. Curious combination between the pioneer of modernity and a surrealist.

The exhibit begins with a self-portrait by Goya… 

N°1, by Francisco Goya y Lucientes

Serie Los Caprichos (1799)

Technique: etching / Measures: 21.5 cm x 15 cm

Here, Dalí's intervention, with an enigmatic title…

Lenguado menguado, by Salvador Dalí

Serie: Los Caprichos de Goya de Dalí, 1973-1977 

Technique: etching / Measures: 44.5 x 31.5 cm

Dalí incorporares to Goya's self-portrait symbolic elements to show Goya as a keeper of Quixote's tradition, but also, as a rebel spirit. You can see the slim figure of Don Quixote walking towards him. 

El sueño de la razón produce monstruos, by Francisco de Goya

Serie Los Caprichos

Techinque: etching

This is probably Goya's most popular etching. In his time, it was said that fantasy, removed from reason, produced impossible monsters but was also the mother of all arts. This image was usually considered as beginner of the surrealistic ideas (artistic creation through dreams).

El sueño de la razón produce monstruos, by Salvador Dali

Technique: etching / Measures: 44.4 x 35 cm

Clearly recognizing Goya's contribution to Surrealism, Dalí keeps the original title and only summs up some shapes on the left, as an allusion to the yin-yang.

Cinco o seis por lo menos, by Salvador Dalí.

Technique: etching / Measures: 44.4 x 35 cm

All of Goya's series had a hidden crtitic to the society of his time. In Dalì's intervention those critics are cancelled. On the previous works, for example, Dali incorporates his soft clock, inspired on a melted Camambert cheese. As one of his most popular symbols, it represents time and the impossibility to control it.

The exhibition requires patience: sometimes it's difficult to understand the message in Dali's works, but, while observing, the eye becomes more sensitive and it's able to appreciate the details. This is specially experienced with the erotic series, which is exhibited in what used to be Enrique Larreta's bathroom. A bit of humour is always needed...

Only a few are original works by Goya (just 5), which are carefully protected. But under each piece by Dalí, there's a photo of Goya's counterpart and a brief explanation.