It's hard to say, really, why I like him so much. Whenever we used to travel as a family when I was a kid, my dad would always insist on visiting the art museum of whichever city we happened to be in. One particular time, and unfortunately the museum escapes me, there happened to be a special exhibit of Goya's wartime etchings. For me, it transformed the meaning of what art could be. It was the first time I can remember feeling what the artist must have been feeling.

Stylistically, I think he single-handedly invented the horror genre, of which I am particularly fond. You can probably tell by the two works I've shown on Hubski, this and this, that I have a special place for the macabre in my heart. Goya is the master of that aesthetic. And in particular, his etchings that he did late in life really speak to me, as they are done in an almost proto-comic book style of drawing, with hashed lines and cartoonish stylization in some cases. It's remarkably beautiful.

Anyway, the long and short of it is, who the hell knows why this taste fits me, and that taste fits you. Good thing there's enough beauty in the world to suit everyone.