Shop art print and framed art Le ballon by Francisco de Goya

Balloon - oil painting by Spanish painter Francisco Goya. Some art historians believe it was painted by a pupil or imitator of Goya. It is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Agen, France. A hot air balloon hovers over a ravine, the sky occupies more than half of the composition, with clouds of indecisive shape in the central part. In the distance, steep mountains and a valley can be seen. Two people are travelling in the basket of the balloon, with flags flying on either side of it. The balloon flies over a group of figures moving through the hustle and bustle on foot and horseback. Goya made several drawings that may have served as sketches for this painting, such as this one preserved in the Kunsthalle in Hamburg. It contains significant differences from the canvas: the people are calmly watching the balloon flying through the sky, there is no atmosphere of anxiety and confusion among them. Experiments with hot air balloons were quite popular in the late 18th century. It is possible that Goya saw Antonio Carnicer's painting The Rise of the Montgolfiers Balloon in the Gardens of Aranjuez, from around 1784, depicting the rise of a balloon in the gardens of the Royal Palace in Aranjuez, during the last years of Charles III's reign. Carnicer's work shows the curiosity that the balloon aroused in the spectators, while also celebrating the progress of science and technology, the fruits of the Enlightenment. There is a palpable atmosphere of anxiety in Goya's [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the romanticism style.

 

« Le ballon » is kept at Musée des Beaux-Arts, Agen, France.

 

Find the full description of Le ballon by Francisco de Goya on Wikipedia.