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Mask Workshop, it presents one of the numerous establishments dedicated to the making of carnival masks in Madrid at that time. In the narrow space of the premises, from the walls of which hang a great number of masks, a craftsman-dressed in a loose white overall-and a woman are giving the finishing touches to some masks. The space is believed to be that of a workshop in Las Vistillas district in Madrid that Solana used to visit; indeed, the maker of the masks and his workshop were depicted by Solana in another canvas and in a lithograph. Solana's interest in the carnival festival was a constant throughout his career, although most of his carnivalesque works were produced between 1939 and 1945, linking him to the oeuvre of Goya and Ensor.

The Black Spain aesthetic, represented in the early 20th century by Regoyos and Zuloaga, was continued by Solana and enhances with greater formal modernity. His plastic language is also related to the Expressionist and anti-classical tradition of Spanish Baroque painting, above all to Goya's Black Paintings, from where he took the palette of blacks, ochres and tans. Solana's favourite themes were those related to death, religious rites, marginalised characters, bullfights, country dancing and depressed town quarters' scenes. As well as a painter he was a well-known author of books devoted to local customs and in the 1930s he produced a number of etchings and lithographs. (Miriam Alzuri)

Selected bibliography

• Bengoechea, Javier de. Catálogo de arte moderno y contemporáneo del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 67. (Con el título Taller de caretas).
• Alonso Fernández, Luis. J. Solana : exposición-homenaje : estudio y catalogación de su obra [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Centro Cultural Conde Duque, 1985. p. 261. N° cat. P. 293
• Art contra la guerra : entorn del Pavelló Espanyol a l'Exposició Internacional de París de 1937 [Cat. exp.]. Barcelona, Ajuntament, 1986. p. 82.
• José Gutiérrez Solana : grabador y litógrafo [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1990. p. 101. N° cat. P.293
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 150-151.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 150-151.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 150-151.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. pp. 150-151, n° cat. 106b.
• Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. pp. 150-151, n° cat. 106b.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 150-151.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 150-151.
• Arrizabalaga Salgado, Victor. Entre lo visible y lo invisible : el coleccionismo de arte en Bizkaia y Álava durante el siglo XX. Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia = Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, 2016. pp. 216-217, il.
• Obras maestras de la colección Valdés [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2020. pp. 60, 214-215, n° cat. 76.