19th-20th century. Spanish

Born on 16 October 1865 to a well-off family, Losada spent his childhood and youth in a period marked by major historical events and transformations in the city of Bilbao that would influence his art throughout his whole career.

In 1874, the Losada family managed to leave Bilbao for Santander just before the siege of the city and the blockage of the estuary. In 1876, after the third and final Carlist War was over, the family moved back to Bilbao and Manuel returned to school.

In 1881 Manuel Losada was sent to Bayonne to perfect his French and it was there he began to develop his artistic skills. One year later he returned to Bilbao to start studying Commerce and then in 1883 he began studying art at the studio of the painter Antonio Lecuona (1831-1907). He became acquainted with the local art scene and with cultural figures including Miguel de Unamuno and Paco Durrio (1868-1940). It was at that time when he took the decision to dedicate himself exclusively to art.

In 1887 he entered the National Exposition of Fine Arts in Madrid for the first time, without obtaining any mention, after which he never showed any further interest in this kind of official event. In that same year he was granted a scholarship by Diputación de Vizcaya to study abroad, and he choose Paris as his destination. He remained there until 1892 and gained a first-hand insight into the work of Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, which would exert a key influence in shaping his later style.

In 1889 he returned to Bilbao, although the following year he went back to Paris again with another grant, this time with Anselmo Guinea (1855-1906). There he met many important Basque artists based in the city, including Ignacio Zuloaga (1870-1945).

In 1893 he left Paris for good and settled in Bilbao, where he opened his own studio and played a pivotal role in promoting the city’s artistic life. He organised the 1st Modern Art Exhibition, held in 1900, in which he managed to include works by outstanding Parisian painters, like Paul Gauguin (1848-1903). The event, that was repeated until 1910, exerted a key influence on the evolution of Basque painting and marked the introduction of modernism in Spain.

In 1903 the artist took part in in Paris, where his work was praised by Edgar Degas (1834-1917). The growing importance of his career led to his appointment as a member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in December 1908.

Losada played a critical role in founding the in 1911 and, two years later, in 1913, he was appointed director of the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao.

This was to prove a hectic period with many exhibitions, with a particular mention for the 1919 Bilbao International Exposition of Painting and Sculpture and the in Paris in 1923 and 1925.

In 1933 Losada was appointed director of the Museum of Modern Art of Bilbao, a post he combined with that of director of the Museum of Fine Arts until a year before his death.

Also worth underscoring is the important role played by Losada when he was in charge of safeguarding the holdings of the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao during the Civil War, being actively involved in 1937 in the recovery of its paintings.

He died in Bilbao on 9 October 1949, at the age of 84.