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Even though he received his earliest art instruction in his hometown of Bilbao, Mogrobejo was trained as a sculptor in Paris -where he lived from 1894 to 1897- and especially in Italy, where he travelled for the first time in 1902 on a scholarship from the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, where he initially settled in Rome and later in Florence. Along with these cities, his biography also includes briefer or longer working stints in Barcelona, Graz (Austria) and Munich, where his works managed to attract the attention of a bourgeoisie clientele for whom he painted a large number of portraits and small decorative figures.

Shaped in plaster in Rome in early 1903 according to Juan de la Encina, Risveglio (Awaken) was the first fullbody sculpture that Mogrobejo made, and it was presented in Bilbao that year as a dispatch of his first year on the scholarship; the jury which examined the works gave it an honourable rating. This male nude depicted in natural proportions, whose most obvious model is The Awakening Man depicted by Rodin in The Age of Bronze (1877), is proof of the sculptor's progress during his stay in Italy.

One year after it was unveiled, the plaster cast was displayed in the National Fine Arts Exhibition held in Madrid, where it drew the attention of the writer Eugeni d'Ors when he was visiting it in the company of Ramiro de Maeztu, and in 1907 it came to be owned by the Provincial Council, as stipulated in the rules of the scholarship. From then on, for the local art community the sculpture became a symbol of the difficulties and lack of understanding that came with working in their profession, which at that time was taking its first steps to gather into associations. For example, in 1908 Juan de la Encina published an incendiary note of protest over the unacceptable conditions in which they were conserved in the Provincial Palace building.

Risveglio is one of the artist's most celebrated works. However, it was not cast in bronze until 1912, after Mogrobejo's death, at the Morales Foundry in Barcelona. According to Sáenz de Gorbea, the sculptor Quintín de Torre was charged with overseeing the work and retouching the original plaster cast, which was missing the fingers on the right hand. This author also notes that once the piece arrived in Bilbao, Mario Camiña, the municipal architect, asked that it be installed in the Provincial Palace and that the plaster cast of the work, after being requested from the foundry, was returned with several flaws (the arms cut off, no fingers, one foot broke). Quintín de Torre once again restored the piece, and he also added a patina so that it could be displayed in the Eibar Regional Art Exhibition (Gipuzkoa) held in 1914. The plaster cast has also ended up in the museum's collection (inv. no. 82/2536). (Miriam Alzuri)

Selected bibliography

• Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europeo-Americana. Madrid, Espasa Calpe, 1918. vol. XXXV, p. 1308.
• d'Ors, Eugenio. La Pintura Vasca 1909-1919 : antología. Bilbao, Biblioteca de Amigos del Pais, 1919. pp. 79-81.
• Abril, Manuel. La escultura : historia del arte en todos los tiempos y pueblos. Madrid, Saturnino Calleja, 1925. vol. VI, p. 682.
• Plasencia, Antonio. Catálogo de las obras de pintura y escultura del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Imprenta Provincial, 1932. p. 43, n° cat. 164. (Con el título Risveglio, y atribuido a Nemesio Mogrovejo)
• Jiménez-Placer, Fernando. La pintura y la escultura españolas de la segunda mitad del siglo XIX. 1944. p. 231.
• Flores Kaperotxipi, Mauricio. Arte vasco : pintura, escultura, dibujo y grabado. Buenos Aires, Ekin, 1954. s. p., il.
• Angulo Íñiguez, Diego. Pintura del renacimiento. Madrid, Plus Ultra, 1954. pp. 62-63, il.
• Gaya Nuño, Juan Antonio. Escultura española contemporánea. Madrid, Guadarrama, 1957. p. 33.
• Nemesio Mogrobejo, 1875-1910 : su vida y sus obra. Zalla, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1972. p. 297.
• Pintores y escultores vascos de ayer, hoy y mañana. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1975. p. 268.
• Pintores y escultores vascos de ayer, hoy y mañana : Mogrobejo visto por Juan de la Encina. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, vol. IX, 1975. pp. 286-290.
• Lázaro Uriarte, Luis de. Algunas insinuaciones críticas en el primer centenario de Mogrobejo. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1975. pp. 323-324.
• Marín-Medina, José. La escultura española contemporánea, 1800-1978 : historia y evaluación crítica. Madrid, Edarcón, 1978. p. 76.
• Bengoechea, Javier de. Catálogo de arte moderno y contemporáneo del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 149. (Con el título Ris Veglis).
• Marrodán, Mario Ángel. La escultura Vasca. Bilbao, La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca, 1980. p. 103.
• Encina, Juan de la. La trama del arte vasco y selección de artículos publicados en Hermes. Madrid, Espasa Calpe, 1981. p. 209.
• Sáenz de Gorbea, Xabier. La escultura Vasca, 1889-1939 [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Banco de Bilbao, 1984. p. 25.
• Diccionario Enciclopédico del Pais Vasco. San Sebastián, Auñamendi, 1985. vol. VII, p. 14.
• Alix, Josefina. Escultura española : 1900-1936. Madrid, Ministerio de Cultura, 1985. pp. 44-45, 276.
• Mur Pastor, Pilar. La Asociación de Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao ; Caja de Ahoros Vizcaína, 1985. p. 15.
• Arenaza Urrutia, José María. Nemesio Mogrobejo. Bilbao, Caja de Ahorros Vizcaína, 1988. pp. 23-24, 29.
• Nosotros los vascos : arte IV : del neoclasicismo a las tendencias modernas del arte. Donostia-San Sebastián, Lur, 1989. p. 306.
• Nosotros los vascos : arte IV : del neoclasicismo a las tendencias modernas del arte. Bilbao, Lur, 1989. pp. 305, 361.
• Enciclopedia General Ilustrada del Pais Vasco. San Sebastian, Auñamendi, 1990. vol. XXVIII, pp. 534-536.
• Actas literarias sobre el Arte Vasco con motivo de la exposición Internacional de 1919 celebrada en Bilbao. Bilbao, Laida, 1991. p. 64.
• Artistas vascos en Roma : 1865-1915 [Cat. exp.]. Donostia-San Sebastián, Kutxa Gizarte eta Kultur Fundazioa = Fundación Social y Cultural Kutxa, 1995. pp. 433, 644-645, n° cat. 74.
• La mirada del 98 : arte y literatura en la Edad de Plata [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, 1998. p. 197.
• Zugaza, Miguel ... [et al.]. Maestros antiguos y modernos en las colecciones del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2001. p. 172.
• Fundiarte : el arte en la fundición = Galdeartea : artea galdategian. Bilbao, Federación Española Asociaciones Fundidores, 2005.
• De Goya a Gauguin : el siglo XIX en el Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 556-558, n° cat. 126.
• Forma, signo y realidad : escultura española, 1900-1935 [Cat. exp.]. Pamplona, Funación Museo Oteiza Fundazio Museoa, 2010. pp. 23, 134.
• 110 Años 110 Obras [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 178-179, sin n° cat.
• 110 Ans 110 Oeuvres [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 178-179, sin n° cat.
• 110 Urte 110 Artelan [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 178-179, sin n° cat.
• 110 Years 110 Works [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 178-179, sin n° cat.
• Launes Villagrasa, Joan ... [et al.]. Julio Antonio, 1889-1919 : un segle després = un siglo después. Barcelona, Viena Edicions, 2018. pp. 116, 119-120.
• Eskauriaza, Mikel; Mendizabal, Asier; Jaio, Miren. Risveglio : Despertar en el Museo. [s.l.], -zko, 2020. pp. 5-7, 9, 11, 13-14,35-36, 40, il.
• Eskauriaza, Mikel; Mendizabal, Asier; Jaio, Miren. Risveglio : Museoan itzartzea. [s.l.], -zko, 2020. pp. 5-7, 9, 11, 13-14,35-36, 40, il.