Jesús Apellániz

JESÚS APELLÁNIZ (Vitoria, 1897–1969).
“Plaza de la Cruz Verde,” Madrid.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner. Dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 61 x 51 cm; 74 x 62.5 cm (frame).

Jesús Apellániz was one of the leading figures in 20th-century Álava landscape painting. A student of his brother Domingo and of Díaz de Olano, he trained at the School of Arts and Crafts in Vitoria, later continuing his studies at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. At just twelve years old, he organized his first solo exhibition in a store in Vitoria. He lived in Paris for ten years, during which time he also exhibited his work in various cities in Germany, Belgium, and Italy. In 1928, Apellániz returned to Spain and settled in Guipúzcoa, whose landscapes he depicted countless times. Meanwhile, he continued to hold exhibitions abroad, both in Europe and the United States. In 1948, he returned to his native Vitoria, where he died in 1969. After his death, the Vitoria School of Arts and Crafts dedicated a tribute exhibition to him, a gesture that was repeated in 2006 at the Raquel Recio Gallery in the same city. Apellániz’s work is represented in Spanish, European, and American collections, as well as in the Museum of Fine Arts of Álava and the Museum of Art and History of Zarautz (Guipúzcoa).