Bay Sala

"BAY SALA"; JUAN BAYÓN SALADO (Logroño, 1913 - Bilbao, 1995).
"After the rain".
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 56 x 47 cm; 77 x 70 x 2 cm (frame).

This painting reveals the mature style of Juan Bay Sala, characterized by a lyrical impressionism of humid and delicately modulated atmospheres. The artist captures the stillness that follows the storm through a fresh and greenish chromatic range, and a loose but rigorous brushstroke in the construction of the landscape. The composition, presided over by the trees framing the rain-bright road, shows his ability to reflect the sifted light, the vibration of the foliage and the human presence naturally integrated into the rural environment. The treatment of the shadows and the misty background is linked to his constant interest in the sensorial capture of the moment, one of the most defining features of his work.

Bay Sala developed a career closely linked to the Basque Country, where he trained painting from life in Bilbao's Arenal and consolidated a recognizable artistic personality within a renewed impressionism. After his first exhibitions in Bilbao, Zaragoza and Logroño, he participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts and was awarded the gold medal of the Bilbao City Council in 1945, which marked his definitive take-off. Between 1950 and 1969 he lived in Paris, where he delved into the roots of impressionism and exhibited regularly, projecting his work also in Buenos Aires and Tokyo. Upon his return he continued to be an active figure in Bilbao's artistic life, and today he is represented in the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastian and various public and private collections.