This contemporary painting movement emerged within the field of abstraction in the 1940s in the United States, from where it spread worldwide. Rooted in similar premises and postulates as Surrealism, the Abstract Expressionist artists regarded the act of painting as a spontaneous and unconscious activity, a dynamic bodily action divested of any kind of prior planning. The works belonging to this movement are defined by the use of pure, vibrant primary colours that convey a profound sense of freedom. The movement’s main pioneers were, among others, Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) and Hans Hoffman (1880-1966). Leading Spanish exponents of the movement are Esteban Vicente (1903-2001) and José Guerrero (1914-1991), who lived for some time in New York City, where they were in first-hand contact with the many artistic innovations taking place there around that time.

a movement that emerged in 1966 in the Basque Country, consisting mainly of three different groups: Gaur (Today) from Gipuzkoa, Emen (Here) from Biscay and Orain (Now) from Alava. Promoted by the artists Agustín Ibarrola and Jorge Oteiza, the movement focused its activity on a defence of Basque avant-garde art. The collective was soon affected by internal disagreements that ended in its disbandment in the same year it had been created.

An artists’ collective founded around the Basque School to bring together the artists from the province of Biscay. It was created in 1966 to defend contemporary art outside official circles, which would defend the formal and conceptual transformation of art as well as of cultural activities connected to art. The works by the members of the group had a strong political intent. The group was made up by Jorge Oteiza (1908-2003), Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002), Néstor Basterretxea (1924-2014), Remigio Mendiburu (1931-1990), Amable Arias (1927-1984), Rafael Ruiz Balerdi (1934-1992), José Antonio Sistiaga (1932) and José Luis Zumeta (1939), and disbanded two years after it was set up.