AGEN, France – The City of Agen and its Fine Arts Museum, located between Bordeaux and Toulouse in the Southwest of France, will present, over the winter of 2019-2020, an outstanding exhibition with a fresh and unexpected view on Francisco de Goyay Lucientes (1746-1828) and his work.

Through a selection of works in several media (paintings, drawings, engravings), the exhibition will demonstrate the essential characteristics that remain constant in Goya’s work and reveal the role played by his collaborators in his studio. The museum’s scientific team is assisted in this project by one of the specialists of Goya’s work, Juliet Wilson-Bareauand. the event has received personal support from the French Minister of Culture.

More than 70 works loaned by museums and private collections around the world (France, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Switzerland, UK and USA) will be on display in the Jacobins’ Church (Église des Jacobins), an Agen architectural jewel and an emblematic place for the museum’s temporary exhibitions.

In the late 19th century, Count Damase de Chaudordy (1826-1889) bequeathed a substantial collection to his birthplace Agen. As French ambassador to the court of Madrid he bought many works, such as several paintings attributed to Goya. The exhibition “Goya, Avant-garde Genius, The Master and his School” intends to demystify the Goya myth. It includes works by Goya or works historically attributed to him and that are all connected to the diversity of themes and styles of the Chaudordy collection.

The aim of the exhibition is to provide both the large public and the painting connoisseurs with a unique opportunity to enjoy and admire many masterpieces that will also be analyzed in detail (documentation and technical analysis). The scenographic installation divides the nave of the Jacobins’ Church into wide spaces and cabinets and is equipped with digital devices, including an immersive multi-sensorial space.

“Goya, Avant-garde Genius” will open Nov. 8 and run through Feb. 10, 2020.