Bull Attacked by Dogs 1824 - 1825

Curator: Here we have Goya’s “Bull Attacked by Dogs,” likely created between 1824 and 1825. It’s currently held here at the Art Institute of Chicago and executed using etching, lithography, and pencil. Editor: Right off the bat, I’m struck by the violence rendered with such delicacy. The pencil and faint etching make it feel like a dream, a terrible one where a bull is set upon. The dog suspended mid-air is especially unsettling. Curator: What fascinates me is the intersection of materials here. The paper itself, the specific pencils Goya chose—how these choices shaped the accessibility, and therefore, the reception of the imagery depicting such intense power dynamics. Were these scenes readily consumed as entertainment? Or critique? Editor: It feels more like critique, a visceral reaction caught in this flurry of line and tone. There’s almost a cartoonish quality to the tumbling dog, yet it’s not funny. It’s disturbing, pointing to the cruelty inherent in bloodsports. That Goya used less “refined” methods only amplifies its honesty. Curator: Exactly. It pushes against the academic obsession with perfect execution. Instead, the imperfections become meaningful—echoing the unstable socio-political landscape he was navigating at the time. And considering Goya was working in exile during this period, it adds another layer to how we see this kind of representation of the struggles and oppressions of his home. Editor: And isn't that telling – to have translated so vividly this violent theatre that makes you wince at first sight? The dogs, blurred in their frenzy, contrast the stark form of the bull—this poor creature who is completely consumed by something we are not fully able to experience. It makes me ponder that in-between state. Curator: It forces us to confront not only the event depicted but the act of looking itself. To acknowledge our own place as consumers of this spectacle, made accessible by the reproducible nature of etching and lithography. Editor: This is a very intimate encounter despite its subject matter. Its starkness somehow lays everything bare for consideration and feeling, almost as if our breath can touch it. Curator: Precisely. This piece invites scrutiny from various angles: historical, political, and, as you say, profoundly personal.