AURELIO ARTETA Y ERRASTI (Bilbao, 1879 - Mexico,... Lot 12

AURELIO ARTETA Y ERRASTI (Bilbao, 1879 - Mexico, 1940). "Goats". Mixed media on paper. Signed in the lower right corner. Size: 22 x 26 cm; 44 x 51 cm (frame). Aurelio Arteta's painting and drawings were tinged with melancholy, always cultivating the Basque theme, both the rural landscape, as in this case, and also the social transformation with industrialisation. Aurelio Arteta began his studies at the Bilbao School of Arts and Crafts, and later extended his studies at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In 1902 he was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to travel to Paris, where he completed his training. Later he also visited Italy. He was a founder of the Association of Basque Artists, and carried out important commissions such as the frescoes of the Banco de Bilbao in Madrid. In 1921 Arteta received the most important commission of his professional career, when he was entrusted with the decoration of the bank's lobby. He painstakingly prepared the paintings and sought the advice of Manuel Losada, who advised him on technical aspects and materials. He also travelled to Italy to investigate the best materials for fresco work in the experience of the old masters. As an experiment, he produced a small work, En la romería (currently in the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum), for Bastida's house in the town of Ondárroa, which helped him to familiarise himself with the "buon fresco" technique. In 1924 he was appointed the first director of the recently created Bilbao Museum of Modern Art, and six years later he was awarded the National Painting Prize. He was also awarded the first medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1932. He is currently represented in the Fine Arts Museums of Bilbao and Álava, the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián and in numerous private collections.