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Sculptor, goldsmith and potter, Francisco Durrio played a major role in spreading the synthetist word preached by Gauguin and his circle, who argued in favour of the subjective treatment of colour and greater intensity of expression as opposed to the mimetic representation of the real world. He trained in Bilbao, where his family settled shortly after the artist's birth, and Madrid, although in 1889 he moved to Paris. Many Spanish artists in the city came into contact with him, including Iturrino, Zuloaga, Echevarría, Hugué and Picasso. His admiration for Gauguin, with whom he had a close professional and personal relationship, was a key factor in the definition of his own art, which tends to combine elements from Modernism and Symbolism.

As a gold and silversmith, Durrio, who had first presented his jewels at the 1904 Paris Salon d'Automne, basically applied different types of burnishing to the two metals. He made buckles, rings, broaches, pins and necklaces, chiselled in silver, some with semi-precious stones, in which he recreated a range of ornamental motifs in the Modernist and Symbolist styles. [Miriam Alzuri] [María Amézaga]

Selected bibliography

• El Modernismo en España [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Dirección General de Bellas Artes, Comisaria General de Exposiciones, 1969. p. 135, n° cat. X-19.
• Pintores y escultores vascos de ayer, hoy y mañana. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1975. p. 308.
• Bengoechea, Javier de. Catálogo de arte moderno y contemporáneo del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 181. (Con el título Broche).
• Plessier, Ghislaine. "Un ami de Gauguin : Francisco Durrio, 1868-1940 : sculpteur, ceramiste et orfèvre", Societe de l'Histoire de l'Art français. 1982. fig. 16.
• Barañano, Kosme María de ; González de Durana, Javier ; Juaristi, Jon. Arte en el País Vasco. Madrid, Arte, 1987. p. 238.
• Barañano, Kosme María de ; González de Durana, Javier. "El escultor Francisco Durrio, 1868-1940 : epistolario, catálogo y notas sobre su vida y obra", Kobie : bellas artes, n° 5. 1988. p. 172.
• Un siglo de joyería y bisutería española, 1890-1990 [Cat. exp.]. Palma de Mallorca, Govern Balear, 1991. p. 466. N° cat. 1653
• Escultores y orfebres : Francisco Durrio, Pablo Gargallo, Julio González, Manolo Hugué [Cat. exp.]. Valencia, Bancaja, 1993. pp. 100.
• Lasterra, Crisanto de. "En París con Paco Durrio", Urtekaria 1993 : asterlanak, albistak = Anuario 1993 : estudios, crónicas. 1994. p. 75.
• El jardí fantàstic : joieria modernista a les col.leccions europees [Cat. exp.]. Barcelona, Fundació ”la Caixa”, 2004. pp. 72, 78, 130.
• Urregileak eta zilargileak : Eloy Garcíaren tailerra = Orfebres y plateros : el taller de Eloy García. Bilbao, Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia = Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, 2006. p. 65.
• Joyas de artista : del modernismo a la vanguardia [Cat. exp.]. Barcelona, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, 2010. pp. 188, 304. N° cat. 190
• Japonismo : la fascinación por el arte japonés [Cat. exp.]. Barcelona, Obra Social ”la Caixa”, 2013. pp. 172-173, 234, n° cat. 224.
• Francisco Durrio, 1868-1940 : sobre las huellas de Gauguin [Cat. exp.]. Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2013. p. 131, n° cat. 90.
• Arte japonés y japonismo [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 78, il.
• Amezaga Massalleras, María. Paco Durrio : viviendo París. Bilbao, Muelle de Uribitarte, 2013. p. 55, il.