Exhibitions

This selection of some fifty works is a first step towards recovering the oeuvre of local photographer Tomás Acillona. (Guecho, Vizcaya, 1893–Biarritz, France, 1957). A trained lawyer, Acillona began to experiment with a range of photographic techniques in the mid-1920s, in tandem with musician Andrés Isasi (Bilbao, 1891–Algorta, Vizcaya, 1940).

One of Acillona’s specialities was the complex gum bichromate technique developed in the second half of the 19th century and at the peak of its popularity in Spain in the early years of the 20th century. Indeed, Acillona was so taken by the technique that he actually wrote a complete treatise on it. The exhibition reviews the genres Acillona worked in, which included landscapes, the still life, portraits and popular scenes, and shows him to have been a leading figure of photographic Impressionism.

In the image:
Tomás Acillona (Guecho, Vizcaya, 1893 – Biarritz, France, 1957)
Old Woman, c. 1933
Gum bichromate on paper