Nine Things You Need To Know About..Goya's La Aguadora
1) A groundbreaking, four-year global research effort has resulted in major discoveries regarding Francisco de Goya's renowned painting, La Aguadora (c. 1808), which has been in a private collection in Japan and out of public view for 40 years.
2) The painting, which Goya kept until his death, was purchased with other fine art in 1974 by a group of prominent Japanese businessmen - led by Ichiro Tsuboi - who were instrumental in revitalizing the Japanese economy after World War II.
3) In the years after the masterpiece was stored, it became something of mystery. Kazutaka Tsuboi, the son of Ichiro Tsuboi who inherited the painting, launched the research project to learn more about the origins of La Aguadora in Japan. Mr. Tsuboi directed a worldwide team of experts, including his business partner Yuriko Reyes, art consultant Stefan Horsthemke from the premier art consulting firm Artbridge, located in Cologne, Germany, and Japanese art expert Kyoko Kazuse, to conduct a comprehensive review of the painting.
4) The state-of-the-art research proves for the first time that the model for the famed painting is Maria Agustin, a popular heroine in Spain at the time of the Napoleonic invasion.
5) When Goya painted La Aguadora, he idealized the image of Maria Agustin and transformed her into an archetype of the kind of women who supported the Spanish troops on the battlefield during the war with the French.
6) The new research into La Aguadora also shows that the woman painted by Goya is carrying brandy, not water, as was previously thought for generations. Maria Agustin carried brandy to the Spanish troops on the battlefields, was depicted by other artists and writers, and was well known to the Spanish public. During the period, Maria Agustin embodied the Spanish resistance to French oppression.
7) It has been established that in 1808, Goya, by this time deaf, traveled to Zaragoza to gather firsthand information about the Spanish resistance to the French invasion.
8) Researchers believe there is strong circumstantial evidence to conclude that the artist created La Aguadora, which was painted very quickly and boldly, while traveling in Spain. The artist produced numerous paintings and sketches during his trip, some of which were destroyed by French soldiers and supporters, and others which he over-painted to protect them because of their anti-French and pro-Spanish content.
9) From the time of this trip to Zaragoza and because of the French victory over the Spanish, Goya purposely never acknowledged the underlying political message or context of La Aguadora, in particular because he served a French court painter. As a result, the painting's message has been misunderstood for generations.
