Manuel Losada is one of the key names in the modern Basque painting of the early twentieth century, working within the language of genre painting. In Paris he gained first-hand experience of the modern movements spreading through the Europe of the time, and was in touch with the community of Basque artists living there.
Losada’s practice is closely associated with the city of Bilbao, particularly the Bilbao of the mid-1800s, to the point that it became the main subject of his work. One of his defining features is the sentimental gaze he casts on the past, reflecting his nostalgia for a city whose familiar spaces were being swept away in a wave of urban transformation. This stance was also fed by a growing art market demand for this type of visual imagery. In order to recreate scenes from a past he did not always know first-hand, Losada relied on old photographs, the main source for his iconography, to which he then added his own imagination, very much in tune with the postulates of .
The artist was especially fond of depicting elegantly dressed nineteenth-century ladies, such as those in this painting, often attired in French fashion and framed by the most picturesque landmarks of Bilbao. In this case, we can see the Church of San Nicolás in the background, in the area of Paseo del Arenal, which gains new life in his works as a popular place for socialising and entertainment.
Losada created a signature style in his own innovative language that reveals the influence of Post-Impressionism, combined with a personal reappraisal of Spanish historical painting, mainly Velázquez, El Greco and Ribera. Losada’s outstanding mastery of technique and his highly modern treatment of colour and light converge to recreate an old, idyllic and poetic Bilbao.
This work is not dated. As with most of his production, it is not easy to date it precisely given Losada’s stylistic continuity throughout his career. Besides, there is very little documentation about him, as the only records that have survived are those concerning commissions or his participation in exhibitions.