19th-20th century. Spanish

Born in Bilbao on 3 February 1878, Alberto Arrúe is the eldest member of the artistic dynasty of the Arrúe family (Alberto, José, Ricardo and Ramiro). After the death of his mother while he was still a young boy, his aunt Matilde took charge of his education and supported him in his artistic vocation.

In 1892, at the age of fourteen and with his secondary education completed, he decided to devote himself to painting. He began his training at the studio of the painter Antonio Lecuona (1831-1907), who taught him the precision of academic art. At the same time, he attended the School of Arts and Crafts of Bilbao, where Anselmo Guinea (1855-1906) instructed the young Arrúe in the new paths of modernism.

In 1894, with a scholarship from a philanthropist from Bilbao known as the Widow of Epalza, Alberto Arrúe moved to Madrid where to studied for three years at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, directed at the time by the painter José Moreno Carbonero (1860-1942), where he studied under prestigious masters, including Antonio Muñoz Degrain (1840-1924). During his time in Madrid he frequented the Prado Museum to make copies of works by old masters of Spanish painting. The following year he took part for the first time at the in Madrid.

In 1897, after finishing his training at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, Arrúe travelled to Italy, and he remained in Rome until 1900. He furthered his studies at Accademia Chigi and set up his own painting studio, where he created some of his most outstanding works.

After his period in Italy, a grant from Diputación Foral de Vizcaya allowed him to move to Paris. Once there he attended the prestigious and became acquainted with the community of Basque artists living in the French capital, including the sculptors Paco Durrio (1868-1940) and Quintín de Torre (1877-1966), as well as the painters Ángel Larroque (1874-1961) and Aurelio Arteta (1879-1940).

In 1904 he submitted a work to the for the last time. It was assigned to the so-called next to paintings by Darío de Regoyos (1857-1913) and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), the reason which motivated his decision not to take part in that event again.

In 1911 he was involved in the foundation of the , of which he was its first president. It was then when Diputación Foral de Vizcaya gave him another grant, this time for four years. He used it to travel to Seville, Paris and throughout the Basque Country.

This also marked the beginning of a period of significant exhibition activity, taking part in international shows, mostly in London, Bordeaux and Buenos Aires. In 1925 he was included at the , further proof of his commitment with the art world of his time.

He died in Bilbao on 5 April 1944, at the age of 66.