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Greatly admired at the time, Portrait of Juan de la Encina was clearly influenced by the shadowy gloominess of much Spanish painting; the colour is however typical of Symbolism. The lean, serious and silent figure of the subject emerges elegantly from the shadows. Juan de la Encina, literary pseudonym of Ricardo Gutiérrez Abascal (1883-1963), an art critic from Bilbao, was one of the most lucid of the art theorists of his day, director of Madrid's Museum of Modern Art, and with his book La trama del arte vasco (The Weft of Basque Art) and countless articles, the first profound analyst of art from the region. [Javier Viar]

Selected bibliography

• "Sexta exposición de Arte Moderno", La Baskonia : revista ilustrada, n° 620. 20/10/1910. p. 121.
• Mur Pastor, Pilar. La Asociación de Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao ; Caja de Ahoros Vizcaína, 1985. p. 6.
• Encina, Juan de la. La trama del arte vasco. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1998. s. p.
• González de Durana, Javier. Las Exposiciones de Arte Moderno de Bilbao, 1900-1910 : un intento modernizador pagado con espinas de indiferencia. Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bassarai, 2007. p. 143.
• Gida Euskal Artistak. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Eder Museoa, 2008. p. 74.
• Guía Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 74-75.
• Guide Basque Artists. Bilbao, Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, 2012. p. 73, n° cat. 34a.