26 November 2013
visitguided
Navarrese artists in a Pamplona collection
Mr. José María Muruzábal del Solar.
Doctor in History of Art and curator of the exhibition
The Muruzábal family is pleased to offer the art-loving public of Navarre a complete selection of works by Navarrese artists, which form part of an extensive art collection that the family has been assembling over the last sixty years. The origin of the collection dates back to 1955 when José Mª Muruzábal del Val, working at the Caja de Ahorros Municipal de Pamplona, was commissioned by his director, Miguel Javier Urmeneta, to set up an exhibition conference roomon the institution's premises in Calle García Castañón. One of the great Spanish artists of the time, Benjamín Palencia, was present at the inauguration. My father, José Mª Muruzábal del Val, was in charge of setting up the conference roomand its managementfrom that moment on, which he would do for almost thirty years. And this conference roomwould later be followed by those of Conde Rodezno, Tudela and the Mixed and Oven Pavilions of the Pamplona Citadel.
Victoriano Juaristi
Virgin and Child, 1930-1935
Enamel on copper, 45 x 16 cm
José Mª Muruzábal del Val fell in love with the plastic arts, especially painting. And in this way a close relationship was forged, which would end in friendship staffand deep friendship with the most important Navarrese artists of the time, with Jesús Basiano and his sons Jaime and Javier, with Lasterra, Eslava, Muñoz Sola, Martín Caro and Ascunce, with Lozano de Sotes and Francis Bartolozzi, with Gloria Ferrer, Monguilot, Idoate, Retana... the list would be endless. And with this workand his relationship with Navarrese artists, a collection of works came into being, almost unintentionally, which has continued to grow since 1955.
It was at this time that my relationship with the art world, that of José Mª Muruzábal del Solar, also arose. I remember with special clarity and affection, the weekend afternoons accompanying my father to mount some exhibitionto García Castañón. These memories are linked to my programs of studyof History at the University of Navarra, with special dedication to the History of Art. After programs of study, I began to devote myself to teaching, but without neglecting the researchof the history of Navarrese art from the 19th and 20th centuries. This is how the programs of studyabout Jesús Basiano and Jesús Lasterra, both of which have been happily published, my doctoral thesis on public sculpture in Navarre, still unpublished, and the dozens of articles on Navarrese art. And we cannot fail to mention the mounting of exhibitions on Navarrese art and artists. Since the nineties, I also became an active collector, always in close relationship and partnershipwith my father. From that time onwards, the collection has been organised with rigorous criteria and has opened up to other disciplines such as sculpture and enamel.
Gerardo Lizarraga
Anguish, 1939
Charcoal on paper
Our collection currently has several hundred works of painting, sculpture, engraving and drawing, enamel or artistic forge. More than 90% of these works are by Navarrese artists. For the exhibitionwhich we are honoured to present, 165 works by Navarrese artists have been selected from the entire collection. It begins with a fine work by Vicente Berdusán and numerous religious engravings from Navarre from the 17th and 18th centuries. The presence of 19th century Navarrese painters, some of them very little known, is very important. There are works by the best known painters, two works by Salustiano Asenjo, one of the few in Navarre, and works by García Asarta, Zubiri, Larraga, Lorenzo Aguirre, etc. There are also works by other much more unknown artists, such as Martín Izangorena, Prudencio Pueyo, Natalio Hualde, Prudencio Arrieta and Fermín Lipúzcoa.
José María Ascunce.
Fields of Echauri, 1956
Oil on panel, 30 x 35 cm
The presence of works by artists from the late 19th and early 20th centuries is numerous and very significant. Here we find Jesús Basiano, Pérez Torres, Javier Ciga, Lozano de Sotés and Francis Bartolozzi, Muro Urriza, Lizarraga, Cabasés, Crispín Martínez, Francisco Echenique, Karle Garmendia, Gustavo de Maeztu, Zudaire Iriarte, Gutxi, etc. And the sculpture works began with Fructuoso Orduna and Rebolé. Just as significant, if not more so, is the presence of mid-20th century artists such as Ascunce, Lasterra, Eslava, Muñoz Sola, Echauri, Beunza, Apezetxea, Ana Marín, Jaime and Javier Basiano, Martín Caro, Gloria Ferrer, etc.; in this generation there are numerous sculptors such as Ulibarrena, Orella and Loperena. And alongside all this, current artists such as Aizkorbe, Ciriza, Ilundain Solano, Tomás Sobrino, Morrás, Mikel Okiñena, Pikabea and Alfredo Zubiaur. We are perfectly aware that this part, that of the current artists, is sampleincomplete. This is the challengefor the future, to obtain works by current artists with a view to fill inthe collection ... that is what we are working on.
Alfredo Sada
Abstraction, 1979
Marble on wooden base, 24 x 34 x 20 cm