Y No Hai Remedio (And there’s nothing to be done)
“We don’t make any exceptions.”
“I'm sorry for your loss.”
“Maybe if you wait and try next time.”
“I’m sorry, we’ve done all we can.”
Some examples seem trivial in comparison to the scene below, but it can affect us all the same. Whether it's a job rejection, losing a home, or death, sometimes there’s nothing to be done.
The man about to be executed is centered. He is in the middle of the print, tied and blindfolded. Three gun barrels from the right bring us-witnesses- to the man in the line of fire. Another picture of helplessness. Somehow I feel a call to action. I think this call is even stronger because I know I can’t do anything. I see a victim. I’m filled with desperation because I know, just like the blindfolded man, what’s next. The man on the ground, twisted and bloody, reminds me there’s nothing to be done.
While the cold bloodiness of war is clear, this print demonstrates the main consequence of war: death of the innocent. Collateral damage and following orders come to mind. How are conflicts solved this way?
Regardless of that complex answer, I just thought of something. Art about war is made for the lost, it’s made for those who suffered. Isn’t that such a powerful dedication? I know it’s obvious, but there’s been art, specifically whole monuments, for mass murderers, which makes the art for the suffered so much more valuable- necessary even. The art of the suffered is the ultimate rebellion against the art of perpetrators.
The Disasters of War
This print, Y No Hai Remedio, is from a series by Francisco Goya. From 1810-1820, Goya created 82 prints by using the techniques of etching and drypoint.¹ Etching is achieved by using a copper plate and acid. The distinct lines of ink in the print are a result of Goya’s etches in a copper plate covered in wax, making scratches where he desired no ink to be printed (i.e., white details and spaces in the print). These spaces left the copper plate exposed in an acid bath. After this bath, the copper plate, corroded by the acid, now “had soft, even, recessed lines etched by the acid where Goya had drawn into the wax” (Zappella). The second technique he used is drypoint. In this case, Goya directly scratched into the plate with his tools. With his plates completed and washed of any chemicals or debris, Goya then inked the plates and ran them through a press. The prints on paper became a mirrored image of the original etchings. These techniques require precise work and practice, and they demonstrate an aspect of industry within art. Scientific processes like this often allow works to be created. And once we know how, we can understand why? What is happening in the world for this piece to come to life?
The role of Francisco Goya during the making of the series is complex. I have inserted an excerpt from an article, which synthesizes the events well:
Goya was servicing the “intruder” king for about seven years. For part of that time, he was developing his art works, The Disasters of War. His role gave him the opportunity to possibly witness some of the scenes he depicted. It is not clear whether these prints depict actual events despite their likeliness to accounts. Due to the closeness of Goya to the court of Spain, his work was not released until 35 years after his death. Despite the work not being displayed to condemn France’s atrocities at the time, Goya captured vivid and gruesome moments that protest all injuries of war.Francisco Goya created the aquatint series The Disasters of War from 1810 to 1820. The eighty-two images add up to a visual indictment of and protest against the French occupation of Spain by Napoleon Bonaparte. The French Emperor had seized control of the country in 1807 after he tricked the king of Spain, Charles IV, into allowing Napoleon’s troops to pass its border, under the pretext of helping Charles invade Portugal. He did not. Instead, he usurped the throne and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as ruler of Spain…Although Spain eventually expelled the French in 1814 following the Peninsular War (1807-1814), the military conflict was a long and gruesome ordeal for both nations. Throughout the entire time, Goya worked as a court artist for Joseph Bonaparte, though he would later deny any involvement with the French "intruder king." (Zappella)
¹Christine Zappella, "Francisco Goya, And there’s nothing to be done from The Disasters of War," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed January 3, 2021, https://smarthistory.org/goya-and-theres-nothing-to-be-done-from-the-disasters-of-war/.