The Intellectuals of my Village - Bilbao Fine Arts Museum

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The Intellectuals of my Village – 82/68

Zubiaurre, Ramón de

Garai, Bizkaia, 01/09/1882-Madrid, 09/06/1969

Oil on canvas

150.5 x 200 cm

Ramón de Zubiaurre (bottom left hand corner)

c. 1912-1913

Early 20th century

82/68

Contributed by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia in 1919

For much of his career -which started in the academic circles in Madrid in the early 20th century- the personal and professional trajectory of Ramón de Zubiaurre developed in parallel to that of his brother Valentín. Both painters shared what the art critics of their day called "the aesthetic emotion of the local", that is, an interest in depicting the ancestral traditions, landscapes and lifestyles of two of the regions where they both worked regularly: Castile and the Basque Country. Compared to Valentín -who is considered the painter of the reflective gravity, doleful religiosity, patriarchal serenity of rural life- Ramón de Zubiaurre tends towards the joyful, the humorous and even the ironic, as revealed in his extensive painted oeuvre, which is brimming with festivals, pilgrimages and people playing cards or eating and drinking in varied fun pursuits and popular festivals.

This work was acquired from the artist himself in 1919, a time when his work, which had already garnered its first official recognition, was about to turn him into an internationally renowned painter who would regular show in Europe and the Americas. In this painting, which harks back to other of his compositions on similar themes and is set in his native Garai, two groups of jocose-looking males are having a lively discussion on some supposedly important matter. They are wearing typical rural clothing, including thick wool socks and leather sandals, but somewhat incongruently they are also wearing top hats instead of the traditional caps and are behaving like enlightened individuals with unquestionable intellectual credence who are exchanging valuable opinions. The villager the furthest to the left, who is looking sarcastically at the spectator, is checking a voluminous book as if he were seeking reinforcement of his claims; the one in the centre of the composition is gesticulating to impose his authority without the need to refer to the book he is carrying under his arm. On the right side of the painting, on a table covered with a white linen tablecloth, but also strewn on the ground, there are loaves of bread, fruit and ceramic pitchers containing drinks which perhaps both groups have just finished. Next to the table, the scene is enclosed by a scrawny tree on whose branch one of the men has temporarily hung his top hat. All of this is happening in an elevated foreground which allows the viewer to catch glimpses of the broad expanse of the valley located at the base of the village, which once again rises up on the right to culminate in the mountainous massif. (Miriam Alzuri)

Selected bibliography

  • Bengoechea, Javier de. Catálogo de arte moderno y contemporáneo del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao. Bilbao, Banco de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 129. (Con el título Los intelectuales de mi aldea).
  • Mochizuki, Takeshi. Ramón de Zubiaurre : el pintor y el hombre. Bilbao, Diputación Foral de Vizcaya, 1980. p. 59.
  • Mur Pastor, Pilar. La Asociación de Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao ; Caja de Ahoros Vizcaína, 1985. p. 65.
  • Tesoros del Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : pintura, 1400-1939 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, El Viso, 1989. pp. 184-185, n° cat. 75.
  • Plazaola, Juan. Euskal margolariak Aurrezki Kutxen bildumetan III = Pintores vascos en las colecciones de las Cajas de Ahorros III. Bilbao, Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa ; Gipuzkoa Donostia Kutxa ; Vital Kutxa, 1994. p. 26.
  • La mirada del 98 : arte y literatura en la Edad de Plata [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, 1998. p. 25.
  • Plástica y texto en torno al 98 [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, Consejería de Educación y Cultura, 1998. pp. 146, 147, 166..
  • Encina, Juan de la. La trama del arte vasco. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 1998. s. p.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 147.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 147.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2006. p. 147.
  • Gida Euskal Artistak. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Eder Museoa, 2008. pp. 84-85.
  • Guía Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 84-85.
  • Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao : guía. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2011. p. 147, n° cat. 103.
  • Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa : gida. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2012. p. 147, n° cat. 103.
  • Guide Basque Artists. Bilbao, Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, 2012. pp. 83-84, n° cat. 39b.
  • Bilbao Fine Arts Museum : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 147.
  • Generación del 14 : ciencia y modernidad [Cat. exp.]. Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España ; Sociedad Estatal de Acción Cultural, 2014. pp. 182, 292-293, 306, n° cat. 159.
  • Musée des Beaux Arts de Bilbao : guide. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2014. p. 147.
  • 110 Years 110 Works [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 192-193, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Años 110 Obras [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 192-193, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Ans 110 Oeuvres [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 192-193, sin n° cat.
  • 110 Urte 110 Artelan [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. pp. 192-193, sin n° cat.
  • Manterola, Ismael [coord.]; Onaindia, Mikel [coord.]. "Bilbao 1919 : la Exposición Internacional de Pintura y Escultura = Bilbao 1919 : Nazioarteko Pintura eta Eskultura Erakusketa [Recurso electrónico]", Boletin 11 = Bulletina 11. 2019. p. 61.
  • Castañer López, Xesqui. "Iconografía de la mujer en los pintores vascos, siglos XIX y XX", Kobie : bellas artes, n° 2. 1984. p. 114, il.