Darío de Regoyos y Valdés

(Ribadesella, Asturias, 1857 – Barcelona, 1913)

Rainbow, Irún

1886

Oil on cardboard on panel

42.5 x 51 cm

Inv. no. 5154


Darío de Regoyos played a key role in the modernisation of Spanish painting in the late nineteenth century. His constantly evolving work introduced a fully contemporary perspective to landscape, light and scenes of everyday life, while building a bridge with the most innovative art movements happening in Europe.

He moved to Brussels to continue his studies, and there he went on to become a member of the avant-garde group Les XX, developing a highly personal visual language influenced by Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism. His painting is characterised by its focus on colour and the effects of light, particularly in atmospheric conditions such as snow, rain, rainbows and night-time lighting.

His most celebrated works come from his mature period and reveal a strong Impressionist approach to landscape. Regoyos was a travelling artist, which had a profound impact on his production. He travelled throughout Spain, France and Italy, depicting scenes both in the city and the countryside. Particularly notable are his landscapes from the north of Spain, especially the Basque Country, such as Rainbow, Irún (1886), belonging to the BBVA Collection, in which he captures the changing qualities of light throughout the day with remarkable precision.

From the 1880s onwards, he adopted a freer painting technique with loose brushwork, a luminous palette and an increasing pursuit of fleeting visual impressions of the landscape. The year 1886 proved decisive, consolidating his affinities with European Impressionism. His night-time scenes and depictions of artificial lighting speak of a clearly modern sensibility that places him among the pioneers of Impressionism in Spain.

In his work, Regoyos demonstrated his resolute commitment to creative freedom and an openness to international influences, distancing himself from academicism while contributing to the integration of Spanish painting into the artistic languages of his time.