VALENTÍN DE ZUBIAURRE AGUIRREZÁBAL Madrid, 1879 - 1963 Types from Madrid, the picadores' family Signed Valentine de Zubiarre bottom right Oil on canvas, 90X112.5 cm Provenance: Rome, private collection Exhibition: Rome International Exhibition of Fine Arts, 1911, no. 155 Exposicion de Art espanol contemporaneo, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1913 Bibliography: V. Pica, L'arte Mondiale a Roma nel 1911. I pittori stranieri, Bergamo 1911, Tav. 133 Valentín de Zubiaurre, a Spanish painter who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, was part of a family deeply attached to art, together with his brother Ramón, also a very successful painter. Valentín's art is known for its realistic style and his ability to capture moments from the daily life of Spanish peasants, with a focus on traditional costumes and rural scenes typical of Spain. Her technique stands out for its meticulous attention to detail and vibrant use of colour, managing to capture the cultural and historical essence of Spanish traditions. At the age of fifteen, his artistic training began with lessons from the painter Daniel Perea and later enrolled with his brother at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. Here he studied with important masters such as Carlos de Haes, Antonio Muñoz Degrain and José Moreno Carbonero, delving into landscape art in particular. His visits to the Prado Museum, where he copied works by great masters of the past, further consolidated his training. In 1898, Zubiaurre embarked on a journey that would take him to explore France, Italy and the Netherlands and, in 1902, thanks to a scholarship received from the Diputación de Vizcaya, he moved with his brother to Paris. Here they attended the Académie Julian and became acquainted with modern painting, with a particular interest in Impressionism. Despite this, the weight of their academic training will always keep them connected to the Flemish Primitives and contemporary Spanish artists, such as Ignacio Zuloaga, with whom they share a concern for Spanish cultural roots. Valentín's works are charged with symbolism, with faces with intense features and hands marked by hard daily work. The realism of his paintings is enhanced by the precision with which he describes traditional textiles and ornaments, and there is a deep empathy for his subjects. This combination of visual detail and cultural significance gives his paintings a quality that is not only aesthetic but also historical and symbolic. Reference bibliography: X. Sáenz de Gorbea. Los hermanos Zubiaurre. Caja de Ahorros Vizcaína, 1982, ad vocem R. Guerra Pérez Valentín de Zubiaurre. Vida y obra, Bilbao 2012, ad vocem