Etching became the dominant technique of metal engraving during the 19th century. It consists of painting on a sheet on varnish with a metal tip, achieving an effect similar to freehand drawing. It was used by great Spanish masters such as Francisco de Goya, Mariano Fortuny or Ricardo Baroja, who developed through it their versatility and artistic expressiveness.
From February 12, the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando hosts 66 works by painter-engravers in Aguafortistas, a temporary exhibition in which we will see part of the collection of engravings belonging to the National Chalcography, which has been protecting the art of printmaking for more than two hundred years.
The exhibition traces the history of Spanish engraving from the influence of the Parisian Société de Aquafortistes on Carlos de Haes to the creation of the Society of Spanish Engravers (1910).
Aguafortists is divided into five parts: Fortuny, the Exception, which analyzes the work of Mariano Fortuny Marsal and that of his son, Mariano Fortuny Madrazo; The Academic Tradition, focusing on the interpretive etching; Carlos de Haes and the Plenairists, with works by Agustín Lhardy, Juan Espina and Tomás Campuzano; and finally, The Legacy of ’98, which explores the work of Ricardo Baroja and José Gutiérrez Solana.
The 66 prints will be at the Academia de San Fernando until May 18, 2025. They can be visited from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. General admission is 6 euros (those who meet any of these requirements get in free).