José Arrue

JOSÉ ARRÚE VALLE (Bilbao, 1885 - Llodio, Álava, 1977).
"Paisanos".
Gouache and ink on paper.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 22 x 44 cm; 41 x 64 cm (frame).
Gouache on paper whose format indicates that it has been conceived to be part of the country of a fan. José Arrué was an outstanding painter of Basque types, characterized with great intuition, as this fresh scene in watercolor attests. Arrúe was trained in Bilbao, and later extended his studies in Barcelona, Paris and Milan. In 1908 he returned to his homeland and began to combine his artistic practice with teaching, as a professor of figure drawing at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bilbao. That same year he collaborated in the foundation of the magazine "El Coiteao". A year later, his love for the bullfighting world led him to wear the bullfighter's costume, and he fought in eight bullfights. His presentation as a bullfighter took place in Bilbao on October 17, and according to the reviews of the time he defended himself well. Around this time he began to make himself known, and held exhibitions of his work in Bilbao in 1911, 1915, 1920 and 1925. The following year, in 1926, Arrúe moved to Paris, where he would continue to paint until finally showing in Buenos Aires in the company of his brother Ramiro, also a painter. This exhibition, inaugurated on July 10, 1928, was held at the Society of Friends of Art in the Argentine capital, and its success was such that it became itinerant, continuing its staging in Cordoba, in the hall of the newspaper "La Razon", with which Arrúe would collaborate artistically for several years. Subsequently, the exhibition was also shown at the Moretti, Catelli and Mazzuchelli gallery in Montevideo, to end its journey at the Wicomb Salon in Rosario, again in Argentina. During this trip, Arrúe participated in the Exhibition of Basque Artists held at the Gran Casino of San Sebastian on the occasion of the Great Basque Week, and was also awarded for his poster in the II International Work Contest. T