19th-20th Century. Spanish

Born in Ribadesella (Asturias) on 1 November 1857, his family moved to Madrid one year later. His father’s affluent position allowed them to travel frequently throughout Spain, probably the origin of the wanderlust that would be so decisive in this artist’s later career.

In 1877 he enrolled at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, where he received classes in Landscape from Carlos de Haes (1826-1898). Following his teacher’s advice, in 1879 Regoyos moved to Brussels to further his training at the studio of Joseph Quinaux (1822-1895), with whom he assimilated a new concept of landscape based on plein air painting. In Brussels he met many of the leading intellectuals of the time, including the poet Émile Verhaeren and the philanthropist Edmond Picard, a major patron of the arts in Belgium.

In 1880 he travelled to Paris, where he exhibited at the . A year later he joined the L’Essor group and cemented his friendship with Théo van Rysselberghe (1862-1926) and Constantin Meunier (1831-1905). In 1883 many of the most innovative members of the L’Essor circle, including Regoyos, left it to create a new group, known as Les XX, organising exhibitions from 1884 through 1893. Thanks to these shows, Regoyos met some of the leading artists behind the renewal in the visual arts at the time, including Georges Seurat (1859-1891), Paul Signac (1863-1935) and Camille Pissarro (1830-1903), who exerted a great influence in the shaping of his future style.

From 1884 he lived between Brussels and Irun, and in 1889 he moved to San Sebastian. During this period, he travelled to London and Paris, and created his earliest Pointillist works. In 1888 he travelled through Spain in the company of his friend Verhaeren. Together they visited many towns and cities, recording the experience in writings and illustrations, compiled in a book called España Negra which was published eleven years later.

The final decade of the century was critical in his career. In 1893 the Les XX group was disbanded as a prior step to founding a more avant-garde one called La Libre Esthétique, in which Regoyos was also an active member. Two years later the painter moved to Rouen with Pissarro, to paint together. Thanks to their friendship, Durand-Ruel, the main dealer of the Impressionist painters, began to show an interest in Regoyos’s work. In 1899 his book España Negra was released, containing 27 depictions of scenes, seven boxwood woodcuts and drawings made during his journey with Verhaeren in 1888.

From that moment onwards Regoyos’ prestige in Spain began to grow, mostly in Bilbao and Barcelona, the two cities at the forefront of the renewal of the visual arts in Spain. He took part in the annual on several occasions, and he also enjoyed widespread acceptance in Europe, where he increased his contacts and his participation in international exhibitions.

In 1912 his health deteriorated and he was diagnosed with tongue cancer, from which he was to die on 29 October 1913, at the age of 56.