FRANCISCO JOSÉ DE GOYA Aveugle Enlevé sur les Cornes d'Un Tauréau (Dios se lo Pague a Usted).
Etching, aquatint and drypoint, circa 1810. 174x219 mm: 6 7/8x8 5/8 inches, small margins. An extremely scarce, early proof before letters and before the first edition in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, Paris, in 1867. Hudelist watermark. A brilliant, dark, richly-inked impression with the delicate horizontal wiping scratches in the background, as specified by Harris for early proofs.
Harris notes that these proofs, printed before letters, on a variety of papers, are extremely scarce (he also notes one impression formerly in a private collection, London, that appeared on paper with a Hudelist watermark). He cites only 4 or 5 lifetime impressions and approximately only another 10 proof impressions printed before letters in public collections. We have found only 3 other similar proof impressions at auction in the past 30 years. Delteil 24; Harris 25.
