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Anselmo Guinea y Ugalde (1854–1906)
A Spanish painter, muralist, and watercolourist, born in Bilbao, Guinea
began studying art under the painter Ramón Elorriaga, and from
1870 he was a pupil of the painter Antonio María de Lecuona.
He began to attract the attention of art connoisseurs of Bilbao, which
took an interest in furthering his training. Through the patronage of
a local businessman and politician, he was able to study at the Escuela
Especial de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado at Madrid between 1874 and
1875, and continue his studies in Rome between 1875 and 1876. There
he studied nudes and watercolour at the Chigi Academy and at the Spanish
Academy, and was influenced by the themes and style of the Spanish painter
Mariano Fortuny. On his return to Bilbao, he produced mainly watercolour
landscapes and traditional scenes of Biscay. He was appointed professor
of the Escuela de Arte y Oficios de Bilbao in 1879, and head of the
Figure Drawing department. In 1881, he returned to Rome where he remained
until 1887, and there he began to receive numerous commissions
and enjoy his first successes, producing numerous works relating to
historical themes and Italian customs. He returned to Biscay and resumed
teaching, and also opened a private academy. During this period he immersed
himself in the Basque genre of art, which he had previously abandoned.
He travelled to Paris on a number of occasions, his first visit being
in 1891, where he discovered the social realism of Gustave Courbet.
His stays in Paris influenced his style resulting in a more luminous
Guinea, with fluid drawing, due to the influence of Impressionism, Pointillism
and Japanese prints. Between 1902 and 1905, he made visits to Rome again
where he touched on social realism and resumed his work with Italian
historical themes, though with a distinctive reinterpretation. The recipient
of a number of awards, Guinea died in Bilbao. In 1906, an exhibition
was held in his honour at Biscay.
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