Carmelo Bilbao

CARMELO BILBAO UNANUE (Deusto, Bizkaia, 1928 – Getxo, 2005)
“From the Window”.
Oil on canvas.
Catalogue included with reproduction of the work. “The Great Basque Encyclopedia.” Issue 153, p. 65.
The frame is damaged.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 65 x 54 cm; 85 x 74 cm (frame).
Carmelo Bilbao Unanue was a Basque painter belonging to the so-called generation marked by the Spanish Civil War. His artistic career was deeply linked to travel and an intense international experience that enriched his training and defined the cosmopolitan character of his work. Exiled with his family to France during the war, he later resided in various countries in Europe and the Americas, settling for a decade in Canada, where he began his professional career and received significant recognition in the art world.
A polyglot and language teacher, Bilbao Unanue combined his teaching career with a constant dedication to painting. Throughout his life, he lived and worked in countries such as Canada, the United States, Mexico, Norway, and Germany, actively participating in international artistic circles. His work was acquired by prominent institutions, including organizations linked to the United Nations and German cultural entities. After returning permanently to Bizkaia in the late 1960s, he developed a distinguished exhibition career in galleries in Bilbao, Madrid, and other Spanish cities. His pictorial language was characterized by a personal, lyrical interpretation of reality, based on the fragmentation of forms and the creation of atmospheres of great chromatic sensitivity.