Born in Santander (Spanish "Pays Basque"),
Iturrino became the peer of Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh.
He was a great admirer of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and established
himself in CagnessurMer (France) where he died in 1924.
As a young man he moved with his family to Bilbao.
He travelled to Belgium in 1883 to study engineering but ended
up studying life drawing in Brussels in 1890. On his return to
Spain he travelled through Andalusia, Salamanca and other parts
of the country, choosing local models that he painted as an exercise
in the exploration of colour.
In 1895 he travelled to Paris, to which he returned
on numerous occasions; his most fruitful period there was from
1901 to 1908. He belongs to the generation of Toulouse-Lautrec
with whom he becomes friends and of Evenepoel (Belgian painter
and printmaker) who did a painting representing Iturrino entitled
L’Espagnol à Paris (The Spaniard In Paris), Musée
de Gand.
Iturrino was one of the first artists to be under
Vollard’s patronage, which then seemed to have lost interest
in him and did not evoke him in his Souvenirs (memories).
In Paris he met Picasso (who painted his portrait),
exhibiting with him at the Galerie Vollard in 1901. He exhibited
with him at Berthe Weill like Zuloaga, Nonell, Losada.
He also befriended Matisse and travelled with
him to Seville (1909) and Tangiers (1911). He exhibited at the
Salon d’Automne in Paris in 1903 and 1911 and took part in
the Arte Moderno exhibitions in Bilbao (1900, 1905 and 1910),
returning to Spain during World War I.
In typical paintings such as Malaga Garden (1913)
and the undated Nudes in a Landscape and Girls with Flowers (all
Madrid, Mus. A. Contemp.) he contrasted vigorous lines and forms
with light colours. Giving particular importance to draughtsmanship
and the play of light, he produced landscapes characterized by
great expressive strength.
Pilar Benito: ‘Iturrino, Francisco’,
The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed 6 March
2003) <http://www.groveart.com>
- Bibliography:
- Sophie Monneret L'Impressionisme et son
Epoque, Dictionnaire International. Published by Robert Laffont.
Volume A to T
- E. Lafuente Ferrari and J. de la Puente:
Francisco Iturrino (Madrid, 1976)
