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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. As a sculptor, his finest work is the Monument to the Musician Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, located in the grounds of the Museum. 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.

Mask of a Man highlights Durrio's interest, shared by many artists of the time, in ancient and primitive cultures. Conceived as a funeral mask, it was one of the pieces he made for the Echevarrieta family burial vault in the cemetery in Getxo (Bizkaia), which he worked on from 1903 to 1923, and which was never completed. The archaic features of this robust bronze sculpture, and the formal simplification wrought on it, link it directly to the work of Gauguin and his ceramic sculptures of characters from Martinique.

A sculptor, goldsmith and ceramicist, Durrio strove to break away from the traditional conception of the applied arts as minor arts. He trained in Bilbao-where his family settled shortly after his birth-and in Madrid, although in 1889 he moved to Paris. Most of the Spanish artists who travelled to the French capital, such as Iturrino, Zuloaga, Echevarría, Hugué and Picasso, kept in touch with him. As a sculptor, his most important work is the Monument to the Composer Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, at present standing outside the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum. [Miriam Alzuri]

Selected bibliography

• Pintores y escultores vascos de ayer, hoy y mañana. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1975. p. 310.
• Bengoechea, Javier de. Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1978. p. 377.
• Bengoechea, Javier de. Catálogo de arte moderno y contemporáneo del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 141. (Con el título Máscara de hombre).
• 50 ans d'art espagnol, 1880-1936 [Cat. exp.]. Bordeaux, Galerie de Beaux-Arts, 1984. p. 214, n° cat. 129.
• Alix, Josefina. Escultura española : 1900-1936. Madrid, Ministerio de Cultura, 1985. p. 240.
• "La Asociación de Artistas Vascos", Guía de Exposiciones, n° 62. 1986.
• 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. 151.
• Nosotros los vascos : arte IV : del neoclasicismo a las tendencias modernas del arte. Donostia-San Sebastián, Lur, 1989. p. 311.
• Actas literarias sobre el Arte Vasco con motivo de la Exposición Internacional de 1919 celebrada en Bilbao. Bilbao, Laida, 1991. p. 136.
• Escultores y orfebres : Francisco Durrio, Pablo Gargallo, Julio González, Manolo Hugué [Cat. exp.]. Valencia, Bancaja, 1993. pp. 94-95, 190, n° cat. 2.
• Lasterra, Crisanto de. "En París con Paco Durrio", Urtekaria 1993 : asterlanak, albistak = Anuario 1993 : estudios, crónicas. 1994. p. 73.
• De Picasso a Bacon : arte contemporáneo en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Segovia, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, 1999. pp. 44-45.
• Entre la figuración y la abstracción : arte contemporáneo en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Pamplona, Museo de Navarra, 1999. pp. 42-43.
• Tellaeche Idígoras, José Ignacio. "Pinceles y cinceles : amigos escultores de Zuloaga : epistolario", Cuadernos Ignacio Zuloaga, n° 2. 2000. p. 75.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 128-129.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 128-129.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. pp. 128-129.
• Mateo Inurria y la escultura de su tiempo [Cat. exp.]. Córdoba, Ayuntamiento; Junta de Andalucía;Fundación Provincial de Artes Plásticas Rafael Botí, 2007. p. 439.
• Guía Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 53-55.
• Gida Euskal Artistak. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Eder Museoa, 2008. pp. 53-54.
• Forma, signo y realidad : escultura española, 1900-1935 [Cat. exp.]. Pamplona, Fundación Museo Oteiza Fundazio Museoa, 2010. p. 22.
• Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. pp. 128-129 n° cat. 88a.
• Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. pp. 128-129 n° cat. 88a.
• Guide Basque Artists. Bilbao, Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, 2012. pp. 52-54, n° cat. 24b.
• Francisco Durrio, 1868-1940 : sobre las huellas de Gauguin [Cat. exp.]. Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2013. p. 64, n° cat. 17.
• Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 128-129.
• Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. pp. 128-129.
• Bilboko Museoaren alfabetoa = El alfabeto del Museo de Bilbao = The alphabet of the Bilbao Museum = L'alphabet du Musée de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 56-57, n° cat. 27.