Francisco Iturrino González

(Santander, 1864 – Cagnes-sur-Mer, Nice, 1924)

Author's artworks

19th-20th. Spanish

Born on 10 September 1864 in Santander, his family moved to Bilbao in 1872 where the young Iturrino began his training in 1879, attending Drawing lessons in a private academy, while also learning first-hand from his uncle, the musician, poet and painter Elviro González.

In 1883 he moved to Liege (Belgium) to study Engineering. However, he soon gave up his studies to devote himself entirely to painting. In 1890 he moved to Brussels and then five years later to Paris, where he entered the studio of Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) as a pupil. There he met Henri Matisse (1869-1954), with whom he struck up a close friendship that would remain crucial throughout his career.

As from 1898, he alternated stays in Paris with sojourns in Spain, visiting Salamanca, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga and Madrid. In 1901 took part in the
in Paris, and exhibited together with Picasso at the gallery run by Ambroise Vollard, who, from that exhibition onwards, became his dealer. One year later, he exhibited at the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts and was included on several occasions in shows organised in Brussels by the La Libre Esthétique group.

He was also fairly active in Spain, participating in the Modern Art Expositions of Bilbao and in shows organised by the
. In 1919 a major solo exhibition of his work was held at Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, and, that same year, the International Exposition of Painting and Sculpture of Bilbao dedicated a special room to him, exhibiting forty of his works.

In 1920 he suffered the first symptoms of gangrene and had a leg amputated. As a result, in spite of the success he enjoyed at the time, his final years were marked by his precarious financial situation and very fragile health. With the help of some of his closest friends he managed to buy a house in Cagnes-sur-Mer, in southern France, where he withdrew until his demise on 20 June 1924.