Victoriano Juaristi

VICTORIANO JUARISTI (San Sebastian, 1880-Pamplona, 1949).
Untitled.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left area.
Measurements: 54 x 65 cm; 78 x 91 cm (frame).
Victoriano Juaristi achieved great prestige as a doctor and surgeon, although his artistic vocation, cultivated since his youth, is an essential aspect to understand his creative personality, in which painting occupied an intimate and constant place as a means of expression. Initially trained in San Sebastian, where he already stood out in the School of Arts and Crafts for his inclination towards the fine arts, Juaristi developed in parallel to his brilliant medical career an intense artistic activity. Graduated with an Extraordinary Prize in Medicine from the University of Valladolid, he practiced in Guipúzcoa and, later, in Pamplona, where he founded the San Miguel Clinic and established himself as a key figure in Navarrese medicine. His prestige led him to occupy relevant positions, such as the presidency of the Medical Association of Navarra, as well as to join institutions such as the Royal National Academy of Medicine.
However, beyond his professional recognition, Juaristi stood out for a singular artistic sensitivity that manifested itself in multiple disciplines: sculpture, enameling, writing, music and, more intimately, painting. In the latter, practiced with a more personal than public character, he found a space of creative freedom. A member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando since 1930, his multifaceted profile is completed with his work as an essayist and scholar of art, especially enamel, as well as his involvement in the cultural and institutional life of Navarre.