El famoso Americano, Mariano Ceballos (The Famous American, Mariano Ceballos)

El famoso Americano, Mariano Ceballos (The Famous American, Mariano Ceballos) is a seminal lithograph created by Francisco Goya in 1825. This Spanish masterwork exemplifies Goya’s profound, late-career experimentation with the nascent printing medium of lithography, a technique he embraced while living in self-imposed exile in Bordeaux. The work is a critical example of Goya's late prints, created toward the end of the 1801 to 1825 period, and is specifically an edition impression printed by Gaulon in 1825 on wove paper.

The subject of the print is the celebrated rejoneador (mounted bullfighter) Mariano Ceballos, a figure known for his exceptional skill and theatrical flair in the bullring. Goya utilized the inherent capabilities of the lithographic process, applying the greasy crayon directly to the stone to achieve a fluid, painterly quality that was impossible using traditional etching or engraving techniques. This direct drawing allowed Goya to capture the intense action and kinetic energy of the mounted rider with immediacy.

Unlike the precise line work of his earlier series, such as Los Caprichos or The Disasters of War, Goya’s Bordeaux lithographs, including the series Bulls of Bordeaux, moved toward a powerful abstraction. In the depiction of El famoso Americano, Mariano Ceballos, Goya employs dramatic contrasts of light and shadow, using minimal yet expressive strokes to suggest mass, form, and the turbulent atmosphere of the arena.

This dedication to dynamic representation cemented Goya’s status not only as a master painter and etcher but also as a pioneering figure in the history of fine art lithography. This extraordinary print, a testament to Goya’s enduring creative power even in his later years, resides in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art. The work is frequently made available to scholars and the general public, often through public domain initiatives associated with the museum's holdings.