Alberto Arrúe belongs to the group of Basque painters which, in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century played a significant role in recording Basque traditions. Throughout his career Alberto Arrúe developed a brand of painting fully committed to modernity, and was one of Spain’s most prestigious artists. Well known for his extraordinary artistic and personal honesty, he never showed any interest in taking part in the art market, which is probably the reason why today he does not enjoy the same fame as some of his coevals, like Aurelio Arteta (1879-1940) or the brothers, Valentín Zubiaurre (1879-1963) and Ramón Zubiaurre (1882-1969). He preferred to undergo hardship rather than pander to the tastes of the public or the diktats of art critics, something that ought to be seen as worthy of merit.

Combining purity and balance, Alberto Arrúe’s output faithfully reflects his personality. He worked in solitude, preferring to paint from memory or from hastily drawn au naturel sketches. It may have been his personal humility that drew him towards subject matters dealing closely with the Basque people, something readily visible in the work at hand. The scene shows a group of Basque fishermen and women at the Bermeo harbour, with a particular focus on the woman to the left of the picture who, more than a port worker almost seems to bear an aristocratic countenance. Arrúe depicts her with utmost refinement and elegance, contrasting with the sculptural modelling of the male figures, imbued with greater rigidity. Arrúe frequently painted customs and manners subject matters, in which he instils a highly symbolic charge and a critique of the society of the time.

Formally speaking, here Arrúe gives good account of his mastery in the use of pastel. Using pure colours, he achieves a large number of tones and highly attractive contrasts that speak of his contact with fin-de-siècle painting in Paris. In turn, his solid academic background can be seen in the formal stylisation and the importance of drawing and composition, reinforced by an interesting and highly modern study of light. The result is a very harmonious whole.

His excellent training and his sojourns outside Spain allowed Arrúe to combine the tradition of great Spanish masters and the innovations of modern painting from Paris. This led him to intuitively create his own means of expression as well as to develop a high degree of creativity, always remaining true to his aesthetic canons, grounded in sobriety, naturalness and elegance.