143 It'
s a
Pity You Don't Have
Something Else to Do!
Brush and sepia wash and pen and black ink; H: 20.2 cm
(8 in.); W: 13. 9 cm ($Vz in.)
84.GA.35
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At top right corner, in-
scribed 78 in sepia ink by Goya; at bottom, inscribed Las-
tima es q.e no te ocupes en otra /cosa in sepia ink by Goya.
PROVENANCE: Mariano or Javier Goya, Madrid; Frans
Koenigs, Haarlem (sale, Sotheby's, London, November
20, 1957, lot 72); Jean Davray, Paris; private collection,
New Jersey.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: P. Gassier andj. Wilson, The Life and
Complete Work of Goya (New York, 1971), p. 285, no.
1314 ; P. Gassier, Francisco Goya Drawings: The Complete
Albums (New York, 1973), pp. 224, 371; S. Holo, "An
Unsuspected Poseur in a Goya Drawing," J. Paul Getty
Museum Journal 13 (1985), pp. 105-108.
THIS CHARMING DEPICTION OF A YOUNG WOMAN
holding water jugs in both hands comes from Goya's
now dismembered "Album C" and is, according to Gas-
sier (1973, p. 226), among those sheets which date from
1815-1824. The image has been associated with Goya's
painting of a water carrier in the Szepmiiveszeti Mu-
zeum, Budapest (Gassier and Wilson 1971, p. 245), of
circa 1808-1812. Gassier believes the Museum's drawing
to be one of several depictions by Goya of humble work-
ing girls (1973, p. 371). By contrast, Holo (1985, p. 105 )
has pointed out that the young woman in the drawing is
shown wearing a fine dress, jewelry, and a rather coy
hairstyle. Equally, she has noted that the woman stands
gracefully and is more delicately portrayed than the peas-
ant figure in the Budapest picture. Therefore Holo has
convincingly proposed that the scene with its sponta-
neous inscription by the artist was meant to admonish
this upper-class woman who was playing at being a peas-
ant, a not uncommon fashion of the period. Notwith-
standing this complex interpretation, the drawing dis-
plays great spontaneity even in the inscription, providing
a good example of how quickly Goya's eye and mind re-
sponded to formulate this striking image.318 SPANISH SCHOOL • GOYA