Darío de Regoyos

DARÍO DE REGOYOS Y VALDÉS (Ribadesella, Asturias, 1857 - Barcelona, 1913).
"Fuenterrabía", 1877.
Oil on panel.
Signed and located in the lower left corner.
With label on the back of the Barcelona gallery Manuel Barbié.
We thank Don Juan San Nicolas for his help in cataloguing the work.
Bibliography: Catalogue Raisonné of the artist Nº 139. This work is the sketch of the work nº 140. It represents a view of the Main Street of Fuenterrabía, keeping perfectly the proportions of the street, which in the definitive version he decided to modify, increasing its width to gather with more detail the procession and the people who participated in it.
Measurements: 47 x 32.5 cm; 67 x 54 cm (frame).

This work by Darío de Regoyos captures a steep and picturesque street in the Basque town of Fuenterrabía. The painting stands out for its luminous vitality and the freshness of its brushstrokes, characteristic features of Regoyos' impressionist style. The scene shows a narrow, winding street, flanked by houses with whitewashed facades and wooden balconies. The roofs and eaves frame the stone roadway and direct the eye towards the imposing bell tower that rises in the background, silhouetted against a clear, deep blue sky. The brushstrokes are loose and vibrant, giving the image a sense of immediacy and lively atmosphere. The architectural details, such as railings, flower pots and shutters are given over to a play of light and color. On the lower right, several tiny figures, villagers or neighbors, are seated and conversing, adding a human and folkloristic note to the scene. This presence reinforces the impression of an everyday moment, captured without artifice. "Calle de Fuenterrabía" combines documentary character with high artistic value and becomes a vivid snapshot of Basque life, painted with the curious and free gaze of one of the Spanish painters most clearly aligned with the European impressionist avant-garde.

Darío de Regoyos was trained in Madrid, at the San Fernando Academy (1878). Soon, induced by his teacher Carlos de Haes and his musician friends, Enrique F. Arbós and Isaac Albéniz, he settled in Brussels (1879), where he became a disciple of Josep Quinaux. In the Belgian capital he came into contact with E. Verhaeren, G. Rodenbach and M. Maeterlinck, a group of young creators who were forging the main Belgian cultural movement of the end of the century, an interest in which he himself would play an eminent role. Thus, he was part of the groups L'Essor (1881-83) and Les XX (1883-93). However, he never took root in any place; even during his Belgian period he frequently returned to Spain. During the 1980s he lived in the Basque Country, where he revitalized the already important local modern art school. In 1888 he accompanied the writer Verhaeren on a trip through Spain (he had already done it before with other Belgian companions), which would be the germ of his famous series "España negra" (Black Spain), published in Barcelona in 1899. If during the 1880s he only participated in exhibitions in Belgium and Holland, in the 1890s he would also participate in Paris, taking part regularly in the Salon des Indépendants. From these years he would also show his work in Madrid, Munich and Barcelona, the latter city where his painting was honored in 1894 by the most important figures of modernism. However, his work, marked by an impressionism of which he himself was one of the main definers, was not well accepted in the most conventional environments. In Belgium, Regoyos was also linked to the society La Libre Esthétique from its origin (1894), an association that gathered in this country the heritage of artistic modernism. In 1897 he held his first solo exhibition at the prominent Durand-Ruel gallery in Paris. The second, the following year, would take place at Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona, where he was artistic director of the magazine "Luz". Since 1900 the range of his exhibitions expanded, being his work shown in Bilbao, Frankfurt, Berlin, The Hague, Venice, Bayonne, San Sebastian, London, Mexico City, Bordeaux and Buenos Aires, among other cities. At the beginning of the 20th century Regoyos intensified his travels, living between Granada and Bilbao. In 1911 he settled in Barcelona, where he died two years later. He is represented in the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña in Barcelona, the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao and the Gerstenmaier Collection, among many other museums and institutions.