20th Century Spanish

Gaspar Montes Iturrioz was one of the main Basque landscape painters of the first half of the twentieth century. The artist is also recognised for his role as a teacher and his work with glass, posters and illustrations.

Born in Irun on 27 February 1901, from a very early age Montes Iturrioz displayed great talent for illustration. At the age of eleven he enrolled at the town’s Municipal Drawing Academy and began his training under the sculptor Julio Echeandía (1872-1943). He would later meet the painter José Salís Camino (1863-1927), who had studied with Carlos de Haes (1826-1898) and, apart from furnishing him with technical knowledge, he managed to get him a scholarship to study in Madrid. In 1918 the young artist moved to the Spanish capital to continue his education at the studios of José María López Mezquita (1883-1954) and Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor (1875-1960). In Madrid Montes Iturrioz frequented the intellectual circles of that time which included, among others, the writers Valle-Inclán, Unamuno and Baroja. He also took part in the activities held at the Ateneo and was an assiduous visitor to the Prado. He also met Daniel Vázquez Díaz (1882-1969), who would exert a major influence on his work. Vázquez Díaz’s visits to Fuenterrabia strengthened the friendship between the two.

Encouraged by Ramiro Arrúe (1892-1971), and aided by winning the Exhibition of New Painters of Gipuzkoa, in 1924 he spent a brief sojourn in Paris to attend . There he coincided with other Spanish artists living in the French capital, like Pancho Cossío (1894-1970) and José María Ucelay (1903-1979). He also befriended French avant-garde artists who opened up for him a new perspective on painting, much freer and less academic than the one he had practiced in Madrid. Similarly, influenced by Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), in Paris he embraced the postulates of Post-Impressionism.

Upon his return to Irun, fascinated by the nature and environs of the Basque Country, the painter focused on landscapes and became the main figure of the so-called . In 1926 Montes Iturrioz embarked on a hectic exhibition activity, starting with a show at the Ateneo in Madrid. Two years later he settled temporarily in Aranjuez, which served as a base to travel throughout Spain. It was then when he met Santiago Rusiñol (1861-1931) and took part at the 1930 Autumn Salon and in several National Exhibitions held in Madrid.

In 1932 he eventually settled in his hometown, where he combined painting and teaching. In 1936 he founded Academia de Beraun, attended, among other would-be artists, by Menchu Gal (1919-2008). In 1942 he took up a post as a teacher at the Municipal Drawing Academy, where he would end up as director. Montes Iturrioz played an instrumental role in art teaching to the point that he became one of the masters of Basque painting.