Francisco Iturrino

FRANCISCO ITURRINO GONZÁLEZ (Santander, 1864 - Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, 1924).
"Young people on horseback".
Oil on canvas.
It has slight restorations.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 130 x 104 cm; 149 x 122 cm (frame).
Francisco Iturrino was a painter deeply marked by color, light and the celebration of nature. In this work the author shows a young naked couple riding white horses, in a scene that is clearly situated in an idealized Arcadia.
The composition is reminiscent, both in style and subject matter, of other works by the artist such as Nudes in a Landscape from the collection of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía or Nudes (Women playing in a circle) from 1916-1918, currently in the collection of the Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. In these paintings, Iturrino does not seek realism so much as the exaltation of a state of grace and vitality. The bodies, full of energy, are integrated with the environment, dominating the pictorial surface. The traditional perspective disappears, and space is constructed more through the rhythm of the figures than through a coherent spatial system.
The treatment of color in these works is linked to post-impressionism, although Iturrino adopts a vibrant palette and an expressive freedom that brings him closer to Fauvism. His shades are neither muted nor neutral, but charged with intense tones that model the volumes with strength and character. Instead of outlining contours with academic clarity, the artist relies on chromatic hallmarks to highlight the corporeal presence of his figures.
Iturrino began his training in Bilbao, where he received drawing classes. After finishing high school, in 1883 his family sent him to Brussels to study engineering, a career he abandoned to devote himself to painting, immersed in the artistic environment of the city. In 1895 he settled in Paris, where he became friends with Matisse, Derain, Vlaminck and Picasso, with whom he held two exhibitions in 1901. There he assimilated the teachings of impressionism, as well as the profound influences of Van Gogh, Cézanne and Gauguin. He held several exhibitions in Paris, under the guidance of the famous art dealer Ambroise Vollard. He combined his Parisian residence with stays in Bilbao, Salamanca, Cordoba and Madrid, ending his life in the south of France. In 1908 he shares a studio in Seville with his great friend Matisse, and later they travel together to Tangier, an event that will be decisive in the career of both. World War I took him away from Paris and he returned to Spain. Among his favorite themes are groups of female nudes, flamenco scenes and bullfighting. Together with Juan de Echevarría, he is today considered the main cultivator of Fauvism in Spain. He is represented in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Louvre Museum, the Museum of Modern Art of Bilbao, the Thyssen-Bornemisza, the Fine Arts Museums of Grenoble, Bilbao, Santander, Álava and Córdoba and the National Museum of Buenos Aires, among many others, as well as having works in numerous private collections around the world.